Deceptions and Rifts
by tstul006
Summary: This is part three of my Rifts series, it's set 100 years in the future. I'd read the other two first. Ianto Jones Child of the Rift and Ianto Jones Leader of the Rift. Enjoy.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Okay, here it is… 100 years later. I hope to get lots of lovely reviews. Taamar of course is my beta, the best one ever. :) **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood**

**Warnings: Usual for me. **

**Rating: MA**

**Eric Ballard**

Eric Ballard was sixty years old, not that anyone would know by looking at him. He appeared to be no older than twenty, which made sense because he had died his first death at the age of nineteen and a half. He still remembered how many days had been left till his twentieth birthday. His father was going to give him the old Mustang. He'd always loved that car, which was why he had taken it for a drive and wrapped it around a tree. Thankfully, he had died instantly, which meant he hadn't had to face his father's wrath. Of course, that's only what he told himself to deal with the pain of losing everyone he'd ever loved in one moment. Nearly forty years later, and it still hurt.

Eric turned down a side street in Cardiff to reach his flat two blocks over. He stopped suddenly when he felt the rush of another Rift Child.

"Hello?" he said, his American accent still present even after spending so much time around the Welsh.

A man with dark hair stepped out from behind a garbage bin. "Hello," the man said, taking a step forward. "I've only just arrived. Do you think you could point me in the direction of the Rift Leader?"

"You didn't come though one of the portals?" Eric asked, confused. Rift portals had been created over a century before, by Toshiko Sato. They removed the risk of a Rift Child appearing naked in the middle of a crowded street. Currently in Cardiff there were two portals in Torchwood tower, the giant T that towered over Cardiff like a beacon of safety, and also two more at a local private school that only admitted Rift Children.

"No, it appears I didn't."

"How did you manage to find clothing?" Eric asked. He wasn't stupid, this all seemed a bit off to him, but it was important to get this man to the Captain Harkness as soon as possible.

The man smiled. "I stole it… Not my proudest moment, I must say, but I could hardly wander through Cardiff naked, could I?"

Eric looked the man up and down. He was wearing what appeared to be trousers a size too big, and a shirt a size too small.

It was possible that the portals had malfunctioned. It had happened before; all technology misbehaved at some time or another. "Well," Eric said, "How about you come with me to my flat and will get you all sorted out. May I ask your name?"

"Let's go with William, it seems like a respectable name. I am a man who likes respect," William offered.

Eric nodded and began to walk toward his flat, with William following behind him. Frankly, the man gave him the creeps, but that was neither here nor there. The fact of the matter was, the Rift Children helped each other out, and it was protocol for new arrivals to report to the Rift Leader.

Eric opened the door to his flat and went in ahead of William. He flipped on the overhead light in his living room and gasped in shock. There was another man, this one properly dressed. Eric had been so focused on William's rush that he hadn't noticed this new man's. This one's hair looked like it had never been combed, and his eyes were hazel and wild.

"What the fuck are you doing in my living room?" Eric demanded, wishing his gun weren't all the way upstairs and in his bedroom. He resolved to keep it on him from now on.

Before the other man could answer, William grabbed Eric from behind and forced a rag into his mouth. Eric tried to fight and pull away, but it was no use. The other man grabbed Eric's feet, and before he could really comprehend what was happening, his clothing was being ripped from his body and he was forced to his stomach. This couldn't be happening, Children didn't do this to each other, they stuck together. Right? It went against everything Jason had taught him. Eric closed his eyes and tried to pretend it wasn't happening.

When both men had finished, Eric heard a soft buzzing noise.

"Not too much longer, dear, and it'll all be over," William said. His voice was hardened and cruel now, nothing like it had been in the alley.

Eric let out a muffled scream when something touched his back, and he felt a burning sensation. Again, he tried to struggle, but he was being held down too tightly. Finally it stopped, and he knew the place they had burned him had already begun to heal. He lay limp, trying to process what had just been done to him.

"Okay, all over now," William sneered before Eric heard the cock of a gun. All he saw was white.

**Ianto**

It was bright in Cardiff, a lot brighter than it had been a century before. That's how it seemed to Ianto, anyway. The Cardiff in his memory was constantly overcast and rainy. There was no way to know for sure, of course, but Ianto believed that it was the deteriorating ozone. It was like looking at a picture from the 1970s and comparing it to a picture from the early twenty first century. The colors were brighter.

Ianto sat in the very back row of a graduation ceremony. The colors were beautiful. The light of the sun that would one day destroy the planet made Aria Ruby Holland's dark brown hair shine, her skin the same color as the women with whom she shared her name. Ianto smiled as she walked confidently across the stage. Her beautiful smile made Ianto's breath catch; it was like looking at the ghost of his daughter. It was going on twenty five years now that Ruby had been gone. Ianto had seen her a week before she passed, she had dementia but she'd recognized Ianto. Her wrinkled hands had gripped Ianto's and her blue eyes had smiled brightly. "I had hoped to see you one last time, daddy."

Silent tears fell as the young Aria gave the valedictorian speech. Ianto was proud of his great great granddaughter, but he was reminded of Ruby. She had graduated from Cardiff University as well, and at that graduation Ianto had posed as her older brother instead of her father. It was soon after that that he had left her life for good. She married and had three children, and he watched from afar. He watched those three grow and have two, three, and five children. Aria Holland was the daughter of the middle son of the five children Ruby's son had had. It made Ianto feel old to think about. Of course, he was over three hundred now, so feeling old didn't exactly come as a surprise.

Ianto stayed in the background after the ceremony and watched as his great grandson hugged the newly graduated girl. The girl's grandfather was there too, nearly seventy years old. Ianto's phone vibrated, pulling him away from his distant relatives. With one last look at them, he turned and walked away before pressing the button on his headset.

"This is Jones."

"Hello Jones, are you running late? I thought we were meeting for lunch," Jack's voice came. Ianto didn't want to have this conversation. He'd remembered, and if he had left when he was supposed to he would have been at Torchwood Tower now eating lunch with his husband, but he had wanted to stay and watch his family, even if just for a moment. Plus, he had some news to share with Jack that he knew wasn't going to go over well.

"I know, I got caught up," Ianto said, jumping onto a passing shuttle train. Personal vehicles were practically extinct, but the public systems were ubiquitous and convenient. "I'm on my way now. We can reschedule for dinner, if you like."

"Let's do both."

Ianto rolled his eyes. "We'll discuss it when I get there, Jack."

"Okay, I love…" Jack began, but Ianto cut him off by ending the call. He knew he shouldn't have done it, he knew he should have returned the sediment, because he did still love Jack, it just hurt sometimes to look at him. He blamed Jack, not that he admitted it to himself or anyone else, but he did. Bethan was gone, and it had been because of a decision Jack made in 1965, the same decision that had cost Ianto his first life and Stephen Carter his only life. The 456 had returned shortly after Ruby's death, and they had tried once again to take the children. Ianto had begged Bethan not to do it, but in the end all those he loved stood against him, and he lost his daughter. He could still remember holding her limp body and begging her to heal, to please come back to him, but she hadn't. Ianto's relationship with Jack and everyone else had suffered, were still suffering.

Ianto could tell by the look on his husband's face that he was upset about the abrupt way Ianto had ended the call. Ianto sat across from him at the small table in the café on the bottom floor of Torchwood. Everyone on Earth knew about aliens now, and Torchwood was no longer a secret, though Rift Children were still kept hush-hush.

"I assume the call dropped?" Jack said.

"Yep," Ianto lied.

Jack failed to hide his disappointment and put a chip in his mouth. "How was the graduation then?"

"Fine, she was valedictorian."

"Of course she was, she's a genius. Just like you."

Ianto smiled, but it wasn't genuine; he didn't genuinely smile anymore. He looked down at the food Jack had ordered for him. "Thank you for ordering."

"You're welcome. I love you," Jack said quickly.

Ianto attempted not to roll his eyes, but he was pretty sure Jack caught it. The hurt look on the other man's face made him regret it. "I love you too, Jack."

Jack nodded, and the two ate in awkward silence for a while. Jack broke it first. "We've had quite a morning. The Weevils in the zoo got loose."

"Anyone get hurt?"

"No," said Jack, shaking his head.

"That's good. You told them this would happen, I'm just glad their mistake didn't cost any lives,"

"Well, they're human, mistakes happen,"

Ianto shrugged.

"Especially when we're young and scared. When we are still getting used to being us. When we are left to make the hard decisions. Saving a few or saving a million. There aren't always right and wrong sides."

"Jack, I seriously don't need this lecture right now."

"It's not a lecture."

Ianto didn't try to hide his eye roll this time. "Discussion, then. Whatever you want to call it, I'm not in the mood."

"So, dinner?" Jack asked.

"I've got a meeting," Ianto lied once again.

"Will you be home tonight? You know, it's that place up at the top of this building, it's got this room that we used to share."

"I'll try, Jack." Ianto conceded. He usually did go home, he just never slept in their bed any more. He had taken up Jack's habit of brooding on roofs, and their flat happened to be at the top the tallest building in Cardiff.

"Yan, I don't know… what to do."

"About what?" Ianto asked, trying to play dumb. He did that often these days, telling Jack all was well when it obviously wasn't.

Jack reached across the table and gripped Ianto's hand. "About us. You think I can't tell? That you don't… don't even want to look at me anymore?"

"This isn't the place, Jack," Ianto said as he stood to leave. "I'll see you tonight, there is something we need to discuss."

Jack stood and pulled Ianto to him, gently kissing his hair. "I love you, and…"

Ianto pulled away. "I love you too Jack," he admitted before turning and walking away, a lump now firmly in his throat. He did love Jack, but that didn't stop the nightmares that plagued him, or keep him from wondering where Bethan was… and if she was safe.

**Jack**

Jack sat and stared that the picture of Ianto he kept on his desk. He had taken it only days before Bethan had sacrificed herself, and in it Ianto still looked happy, and in love. It was a look that hadn't crossed his face for nearly twenty years, at least not that Jack had seen. Jack put his head in his hands and stifled a sob. He had always worried about physically losing Ianto, he had never imagined losing him mentally and emotionally. Jack pulled the photo to him and ran a finger over the smile of the man he loved.

He hastily put the picture back in its spot when there was a knock on his door. "Come in," he said, wiping his eyes. The automatic door slid open, and in walked the young version of Trevor Frost.

"Hello sir," Trevor said. He was so different from his older self. So shy and nervous.

"Hey kiddo, ready to shoot?" Jack smiled.

Trevor sat down in the chair opposite Jack's desk. "Yes, sir."

Jack took in the boy's features. Except for his mannerisms, he looked exactly like his older self. Six months was all he had to teach this kid everything he could, and he was already two weeks in. "So when Ianto started working for me… god, over a century ago now, he already knew how to shoot, but as I've told you before, he was undercover so he pretended it was his first time…" Jack winked at Trevor's blush. "Not like that, well that too, but anyway, he did fine."

"He already knew how to, though?"

Jack smiled, there was that smart mouth. "Let's go get started," he said, getting up and gesturing toward the door. Trevor nodded.

The shooting range was in the basement of Torchwood tower. Teaching Trevor the ropes really brought Jack back to his first team and the way he flirted (okay, sexually harassed) each of them. He remembered the way Owen had pushed him away and punched him, how Tosh had giggled, and how much Gwen had wanted him to go further. Trevor just kept missing his shots.

"You need to relax, there's never going to be a time when you'll have to shoot someone without distraction. You can do this," Jack whispered in the boy's ear.

"Jack… I've slept with a man." Trevor said. He missed another shot.

Jack took the gun and sat it on the table in front of them before turning Trevor in his arms and looking at him. "Did you want to?" Jack asked seriously.

"Yes."

"Oh, okay… why are you telling me?"

"I just… I mean, in case you thought I was… like, innocent or something."

Jack laughed. "Oh, I was never worried that you were innocent," he said lifting Trevor's chin and looking into his light blue eyes.

Trevor licked his lips.

"Okay, back to work," Jack said, taking a step back and turning Trevor back around. "Grab the gun and let's try again."

**TW—TW—TW **

"I think you did well for your first time," Jack said as he walked Trevor out of the Torchwood tower.

Trevor only nodded.

Jack stopped at the shuttle train and turned Trevor toward him. "Be safe on your way back to the school, okay."

"I'm not a child, sir."

"Of course not, you're my charge though, and I love you," Jack said, kissing the kid's head.

Trevor nodded and jumped onto a shuttle. Jack watched as it departed, then smiled broadly when he saw the older Trevor on the other side of the road. The man grinned smugly and walked across to him. Jack pulled him into a hug as soon as he reached him.

"I've missed you, when did you get in?" Jack asked, kissing Trevor gently on the lips.

"About an hour ago," Trevor said as the pair walked back into the building. Jack winked at the security guard before calling the lift. The poor man looked confused. He had just seen Trevor get on the shuttle outside, and now he was seeing him get on the lift with the director.

"Gotta love twins," Jack called. The man only nodded, his mouth slightly open. It was all over the tabloids that the director of Torchwood, who happened to be a long-lived kind of alien, had a thing for sleeping around despite the fact that he was a married man. For shame. Jack loved the tabloids. Even when they were dead wrong he usually got some interesting ideas.

Jack typed the code in for his flat once the elevator closed. He knew he probably had paperwork to do… well not literal paperwork, Jack hadn't seen actual paper in nearly fifty years, but he wanted to visit with Trevor. The man had been gone for nearly a month, and was always good company. And Jack could really use someone to talk to.

"So what do you think about young me?" Trevor asked as the lift began to move.

"Nice kid. A bit shy, but that smart mouth is still there."

"I wanted you Jack, so bad. But I was also confused because…"

Jack looked at Trevor and raised an eyebrow. "Because?"

"Well, you don't know this, but young me is having a bit of an affair with Adrian. He's confused because he likes Adrian and you, both. He hasn't realized that he's a forever bachelor yet."

"Oh, I see. So he thinks he's being unfaithful to Adrian by having a crush on me? If he only knew what Adrian and I did just three days ago in the storage room of that school."

Trevor laughed. "Yeah, kids. Anyway, he's going to be having a conversation with Adrian today about it. So be prepared for him to jump you the next time he comes."

"I'm always prepared to be jumped," Jack teased.

"Yeah, I know." Trevor winked.

"Let's have a drink," Jack suggested when the door to the lift opened to reveal Jack and Ianto's flat. It was massive, encompassing the most of top floor of the Tower, with a rooftop garden as well. Of course, the garden wasn't what it used to be. It had been lovingly cultivated for decades, but Ianto had let all the flowers die, and now all that was left were weeds.

Trevor nodded and stepped out of the lift. Jack followed behind him. During the day the flat didn't need to have a single light on because the sun shone in through the floor to ceiling windows. There were a few bedrooms on one side of the flat each with its own bathroom, the master suite was in the center of the flat, but other than that there were no other walls. It was a bit much for just two people, but they used to have people share the place with them. But now, except for occasional visits from Trevor, it was just the two of them, when Ianto even bothered to be home.

"Scotch?" Jack looked out the window over Cardiff as he opened a decanter of the amber liquid.

"What else is there?"

Jack nodded and poured out two glasses. He handed one to Trevor and kept one for himself, taking a hearty sip before sitting down on one of the ridiculous chairs that Ianto had chosen. The things looked more like sculptures than furniture, but Ianto had said they needed to embrace the century they were in. Jack had a suspicion that the Welshman hated the things just as much as he did, but kept them just to irritate Jack. Sadly, Jack recognized this as wishful thinking. The old Ianto would have done that, but not this one, this one was too lost in grief to think of new and amusing ways to annoy the one he loved. He just didn't care enough anymore. It was yet another small thing on the long list of things Jack missed about his Ianto.

Trevor settled carefully into one of the other sculptures. "How's things?" he asked. Jack knew what that question meant. How was Ianto? Was he any better? Had he forgiven yet?

"The same. He's in town now, but it's been nearly a week since he returned from his tour of the Rifts… so he'll probably be heading off again soon. Never stays here too long, does he? Says he has something to talk to me about tonight. I bet he's made up another 'crisis' at another Rift and he needs to jet off again."

"It'll get better, with time," Trevor reassured him. It didn't help.

Jack looked up from his scotch. "What? Never seeing my lover?"

"No, I mean, he'll get better, he'll stop this… eventually."

Jack rolled his eyes. "Unless 'eventually' is in the next five and a half months, I don't believe you."

**Trevor**

Eric Ballard's body was suspended from a tree. He had just been found, his pale blue eyes looked straight ahead, and his blond hair was matted with his blood. On his back was tattooed the word 'Putin', which translated very literally to whore in French.

"This is something to come back to, hey rookie?" said one of Trevor's colleagues. The man had only been with the Cardiff homicide division for a few weeks, while Trevor had been with them for over fifty years. They all believed he was the same sort of ageless alien that Jack Harkness was.

"I'm not a rookie, child," Trevor snapped, walking forward to get a better look at the victim, who had restraints on his ankles and his wrists, with which was suspended from the tree. Around his neck was a thick collar.

Trevor rubbed the back of his neck and looked away. He'd known this was coming, and there hadn't been a thing he could do to stop it. Timelines sucked sometimes. He wished things were different. He wondered how long he could keep it from Jason, but was afraid that the answer was 'not very long', and Jason would be furious with him. Ianto would understand, but Trevor couldn't talk to him about it. It sucked all around, especially for poor Eric. "May you have a good next life," Trevor whispered, closing Eric's eyes. "Okay, let's get him down." He raised his voice slightly so that the new guy could hear him.

He sighed. The rest of his day was going to consist of labs, analysis, and press. Trevor hated the press. There was no quicker way to ruin the chances of solving a case then letting the press get involved. As if the bastards could hear him thinking, Trevor saw the flash of a camera. Oh fucking joy. At least he already knew who was responsible for this murder, though it didn't mean he could prevent the ones to come.

**Adrian**

Adrian liked kids okay. No, that was a total lie, he hated children, but he'd rather deal with them than teenagers. Fuck, he despised teenagers, and what was worse was he looked like he was one of them. He glared at his class watching as they all shouted across the room to one another. Why did they have to yell?

"Alight, everyone please calm down," He tried. No one listened. Adrian grabbed his trusty whistle. It took one good hard blow and the teens all calmed down and sat at their desks. Adrian reveled in the silence for a moment before speaking. "There is no reason for you to yell in my classroom. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir," they all repeated. The door to the class opened, and the young Trevor walked in. Late.

"Thank you for gracing us with your presence, Mr. Frost," Adrian said acerbically. Perhaps he had made a mistake by sleeping with the young man, but the older Trevor had been _his_ first, in a way, and it had seemed right and just to return the favor, especially since Trevor had initiated it. But between that and the fact that he looked no more than a few years older than the boy, Trevor was staring to treat Adrian as a peer rather than as the two-hundred-fifty year old man and instructor that he was.

Trevor walked quickly to his desk and sat down. "I'm sorry sir. I…"

"I don't want waste any more class time with your excuses," Adrian said, cutting Trevor off and turning toward the giant touch screen on the wall. "Alright, we left off during the 1940's. Let's continue from there. Can anyone tell me what Rifts were active in 1940?"

No one raised their hands. Of fucking course.

**TW—TW—TW**

Adrian stared at his computer screen and wondered if any of the kids in his class knew how to properly use a comma. No, it didn't seem so.

"Sir, may I please explain…"

Adrian looked up to see Trevor standing in front of his desk. "No, it's fine… you were only a minute late, I shouldn't have called you out."

"I was at my lesson with my guardian sir. It ran over…" Trevor said, shifting and biting his lip. Adrian looked back at his lesson plan and hoped Trevor would get the hint. He didn't.

"Sir?" Trevor said hesitantly. "What are we? To each other, I mean?"

Oh shit. "Student and teacher."

"I mean, well, we… " He closed his eyed and took a breath, as if preparing himself for something incredibly difficult. "What do you expect of me? Romantically? Can I sleep with other people? Am I supposed to pretend it never happened? I don't understand what this all means."

Oh… okay not expected. "You may be with whomever you choose. I mean, it's your body, and I don't have any claim on you."

Adrian saw Trevor's face flush with relief. "Oh, good… I was just worried that you were… I mean… I don't want _feelings_ involved, yeah?"

"Trevor, its just sex. I mean, it's not, because I do care for you, but it's not… not like that. Plus… you know that Mr. Sims and I are married, right?" Adrian said. He was pretty sure everyone knew that he and Jason were together.

"I do, know that sir, I just… I didn't know if he knew. And he's hardly faithful."

"Of course he's faithful. And yeah, he knew." Adrian grinned.

Trevor bit his lip. "I don't understand. He sleeps with everyone. And you–"

Adrian interrupted before the kid dug himself any deeper. "He's faithful. We both are. We're just not monogamous."

"Huh?"

So, this was a far cry from the Trevor who'd had the 'sluts have more fun' conversation in his own past. Adrian wondered if he had something to do with Trevor's future attitudes. If so, he'd better start him off right. He motioned for Trevor to sit.

"Love and devotion are not synonymous with sexual exclusivity. Yes, for some people, they go hand in hand, but they aren't _required_. "

"So you and Mr. Sims aren't splitting up? Because there's a betting pool in the dorms on how long it will last. And another on who you both will end up with, after."

Adrian chuckled. It seemed that betting pools were eternal. "Put your money on it never ending. Listen, in any relationship there are rules, and Jason and I are no different. But no one gets to make your rules but you. Well, both of you, or all three of you, or whatever."

"What sort of rules?" Now Trevor looked interested. He'd once told Adrian that he never wanted a deep emotional bond, so maybe this was what he needed to negotiate his future relationships, whatever they happened to be. He decided to open up a bit, since he knew the older Trevor so well.

"If I explain some of this to you, can you promise not to spread it around the dorms? Because it's really no one else's business, but I think you need to understand it."

"Yeah, I promise. It just doesn't make any _sense_. I mean, Leodine and Marcus had a huge blow-up over her looking at some other girl, how can sleeping with someone be okay?" Trevor, never one to sit still for long if he could help it, started to fidget.

"Well, for us there's no jealousy because there's no fear that one of us will leave the other, but we keep it out of our shared bed. And he likes to hear about what I do, but I'd rather not hear details about his activities, so that's one of our rules. We've also agreed to discuss it if one of us develops deeper feelings for someone else, but so far that hasn't been an issue. And if there were someone one of us just couldn't tolerate, the other would hold off. As long as we stay within those guidelines, we're faithful, even if we fuck our way across time and space. But if one of our rules were broken I'd be devastated. Like I said, no one can decide what's right for any given relationship except the ones in it, and as long as you all respect that, then no harm, no foul."

"Huh."

"Yeah. So do you think you can make it to class on time from now on?"

"You'll have to discuss that with Captain Harkness, sir. In whatever way you've agreed between you." Ah yes, there was the cheeky Trevor he knew so well.

**Jason**

"You! What did I say about running off?" Jason growled at a third-year student.

"Not to?" The boy replied.

"Exactly, now go get back with the others."

Jason watched as the boy, now chastened, ran off to join his classmates. Jason didn't know why the fucking Weevils had to get loose the day he took the third-years to the zoo. They should have already been back at the school now, but they were running behind. Jason closed his eyes and wished, not for the first time that day, that Adrian was with him on this little outing. Not because he missed the man (which he did), but because Adrian was good at keeping track of people. Jason had sixteen third-year students, and whenever he tried to count them just by their rushes the rushes jumbled all together, thus he had to do it the old-fashioned way.

"Okay, all you stand still so I can count you," Jason yelled over the brats, or children, whichever. Jason counted them the best he could, looking at his assistant Mirian to see if she had the same number. He smiled when she nodded. All sixteen students accounted for. "Alright boys and girls, let's go home," Jason announced, pointing toward the shuttle that he had rented for the day.

The kids began to board the shuttle and Jason felt a rush behind him. Had he missed a child after all? He turned and saw a dark haired man walking the opposite way. Jason would know him anywhere… Max. Jason instantly gave chase, not even telling Mirian where he was heading.

But the man was gone. Jason closed his eyes and tried to sense him, but he couldn't. It was as if he had just disappeared.

**TW—TW—TW**

Adrian nestled in Jason's arms. This was Jason's favorite part of the day, when they held each other after sex and just… connected.

Adrian was tracing words on Jason's bare chest. "So I had to set Trevor straight today. He was concerned that fucking him meant you and I were on the outs. He thought I'd expect something of him,"

Jason laughed, "Our Trevor? He's hardly the poster boy for fidelity now."

"That's just it, Jace. Everyone uses the word 'fidelity' to mean not fucking others. That's not what it means at all. It's not like owning each other's genitals is the only measure of affection."

"True. As long as I own your heart I'll be content."

"Always, mon amour. Always." They held each other in perfect contentment for a moment. Jason wanted to tell Adrian about seeing Max but he wasn't quite sure how to broach the subject.

"So, the zoo trip went well," he began tentatively.

"That's nice," Adrian yawned.

Jason bit his lip. Well, he might as well just blurt it out. "I saw Max."

Adrian stiffened. "Who?"

Oh, so he was going to play dumb. "Maximillian Oldenburg, and don't pretend you don't know who I'm talking about. If it was him, then we need to find him before Ianto finds out… he's angry enough already. What would he do if he was to have to deal with that man? Not to mention that he may be holding a grudge, since Ianto relocated him. He was dangerous before, but now he has nothing to lose."

"Ianto didn't relocate him. I did," Adrian said quietly.

Jason went still in shock. "Then it's even more important to find him."

"How do you know it was him? I mean it was so long ago, how do you even remember what he looked like?"

That was a good point. It could be that it was just a man who favored Max. "You're probably right." Jason pulled Adrian closer, let his eyes close, and tried to relax. "Goodnight."

"Good night mon amour."


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: chapter 2. Okay, so last chapter had non-con implied in the beginning section and I didn't put it in the warning cause (well, don't tell anyone but sometimes I'm a bit… ditzy.) So I'm really sorry. Promise I'll pay more attention from now on. **

**Okay, as always, Taamar is my beta and she's the bestest ever. (hehe, she's cringing at my use of the non-word 'bestest.'**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood**

**Warnings: Implied non-con in the first little section, and the usual from there. **

**Rating: MA**

**Finian Young**

"Young, it's your turn, Allen did it last time," Finian's best mate said. He was trying to convince Finian to go get the booze for the dorm's drinking pleasure. It had been a long school week, and all the boys in the dorm just wanted to let loose, and hopefully not get caught doing so.

Finian got up off his bed, already accepting the fact that he would be traveling out into the cold Cardiff night.

"Maybe we shouldn't, guys. Remember what happened last time? I really don't want to spend the next six weeks getting up early to run three miles," Frost said.

"Oh, shut up, teacher's pet," Finian teased. It was rumored that Trevor Frost was screwing around with the history teacher, not that Finian cared either way; half the dorm would have done the same given the chance. Trevor was his good friend. The two shared many of the same features, both blonds, blue eyed, and a bit short. Their beds were next to each other in the open dorm room, and many nights they would lie awake quietly discussing their futures and wondering together where they would end up.

Trevor flopped backwards onto the mattress. "Suit yourself, then," he said, picking up his tablet to read.

"Suit yourself, then," Finian mimicked. He pulled his coat on and made a face at his friend. "So does this mean you don't want any?"

"Bring me scotch," Trevor responded.

Finian rolled his eyes, "You'll be getting the generic beer, just like the rest of us, despite your status." Maybe if he did bring his friend back scotch he'd finally get the answers to his questions about the history teacher.

Ten minutes later, and Finian was heading towards the store all the students knew wouldn't check their age when he suddenly felt the rush of another Rift Child behind him. He stopped and turned, locking eyes with a dark haired man.

"Hello," the man leered, taking a step forward. Finian took a step back; the man wasn't someone he knew, and he wasn't really getting a warm fuzzy feeling from him. "Hey, it's okay, don't be scared," the man said, putting out his hand. Funnily enough, that did nothing to ease Finian's fears.

"Don't touch me," Finian said. "What are you doing hanging around in an alley, anyway?"

The man didn't answer, he just lunged forward and grabbed Finian by the shoulder, and before Finian fully understood what happened, he was transported from the alley to a small bedroom. He stepped back, feeling disorientated. He backed into a twin bed and fell. The man pounced on Finian, holding him down on the mattress. Finian screamed and tried to push the man away.

"Quit fighting, you're only making it worse for yourself," his captor growled. Finian whimpered as the man's hand closed over his wrist, squeezing it almost to the point of crushing it. Pain shot through him. He stopped struggling. "That's a good boy," The man said, lessening his grip on Finian's wrist.

"Please, let me go." Finian was unable to keep his voice from cracking as he begged. He wasn't afraid to die; he knew he'd come back, he was just scared of where he would end up. He was scared he'd never see his family or friends again. He'd wanted to be at least twenty five before his first life ended. He wanted to see his sister graduate from college, he wanted to see that new action film with Trevor, and… god, he didn't want to go yet. Not yet.

The man shifted and used one hand to feel the skin under Finian's shirt. "You need to thank me for all I'm about to do."

Finian closed his eyes. "Please let me go."

**Trevor**

Trevor walked into Brody's house and quietly took off his shoes. He could feel Brody's rush in the living room; the man was most likely watching TV on his oversized sofa. Trevor closed his eyes and began unzipping his coat. Once undone, he took it off and hung it on the hook above his shoes. He made his way to the living room, deliberately dragging his feet.

When Trevor entered the room, Brody patted the seat next to him without looking away from the screen. Trevor sat down, not even trying to hide his hatred of the man beside him. It didn't seem to bother Brody, though, he just wrapped an arm around Trevor's shoulders and pulled him closer.

"I've missed you, little whore," Brody said. Trevor only grunted in reply. Brody pulled Trevor down so that the man's head was resting on his chest. Brody's lips kissed just below Trevor's ear. "One day, you'll just be mine, and I won't need to share you. Because one day you'll realize how much you love me."

"That's unlikely," Trevor responded, only to feel Brody's fingers gripping his hair as his head was pulled back.

"Don't be rude," he said, and Trevor decided that perhaps tonight was not a good night to antagonize him.

Trevor bit his lip. "I'm sorry, sir."

Brody nodded loosening his grip. "Go to bed, I'll join you in a minute."

Trevor extracted himself from the couch and walked to the only bedroom in the small home. He undressed and placed his clothes on the dresser before pulling the covers back and getting in the bed. Five and a half months to go, and he would never have to do this again.

**Ianto**

Ianto stepped off the lift into his flat. He'd hoped Jack would already be asleep, but he was standing by the large window in the sitting room, looking out over Cardiff with a half-empty glass of scotch in his hand. Some things never changed.

"It's late," Jack observed.

Ianto nodded despite knowing Jack couldn't see him. "Yes, I got caught up…"

"Don't lie to me. It hurts when you do."

There was no point in pretending that he wasn't lying, so Ianto just walked to the side table and poured himself a scotch. "I figured you'd be asleep by now."

Jack turned. "I wanted to see you. I know rarely seeing me works for you, but I can't do it anymore. It's been twenty years… It's time to move on Yan. Please."

"I'm moving to Kiev. There has been another uprising there, and I'm needed to restore peace. I won't be moving back here until they can function without me," said Ianto without preamble. Responding to his lover's plea that it was 'time to move on' would only start an argument. It would never be time to move on, not until he held his daughter again. Not until he knew she was safe, and if that took forever he didn't care. He had forever.

"No," Jack said simply.

"Jack, don't make this hard."

Jack turned. "If you want it to be over then just say it. But if you leave without saying it then I'm going to just assume it, because if you can't move on… then I have to."

"Jack, me moving to Kiev has nothing to do with us, and everything to do with my responsibilities."

"You're lying again." Jack drained his glass and set it aside. "Ianto, it's time for you to step down. You need a real break, we need one. We could leave here… go anywhere together, just us. Please," Jack begged.

Ianto walked forward, and for the first time in so long he initiated a hug between himself and Jack. He breathed in the scent of the man, and felt his sadness mingled with an ounce of hope. Ianto would be leaving for Kiev, but he wanted one last moment, because didn't he deserve that. Jack's arms pulled him close, as if he were holding on for dear life. "I love you Jack, I always will," Ianto said, trying to keep his voice steady as he pulled away from his fixed point's embrace.

"Then don't do this," Jack pleaded. "Please, don't."

Ianto knew he couldn't speak without crying, and he couldn't let that happen. He didn't say another word, he just turned and walked back to the lift. He got in and took one last look at his lover as the doors closed. He couldn't leave Earth with Jack, he needed to be here if Bethan came through. It was where she'd come to find him, even if she appeared elsewhere.

He fell to his knees and sobbed into his hands. He'd never wanted this to happen, he always thought that after he got Jack back he'd never let him go, and now he had just walked away. Was walking away. His heart was shattering, but he didn't know what else he could do.

When the lift reached the bottom floor, Ianto stood and walked out of the building; he would head to the school, where he had a sofa in his office. He could sleep there.

The school was quiet when he got there. Ianto was a bit envious of the students. They all got to grow up with the knowledge that they were different, unlike him. Of course, the fact that the Rift was not only producing more Children, but also sending more relocations through made the school necessary. It was becoming a bit overwhelming. One hundred years ago there had been barely a thousand Rift Children on Earth; now there were close to five thousand, and the number seemed to be growing daily.

"Minister."

Ianto turned to see Adrian coming out of his own office wearing only a robe. "Yes?"

"What are you doing here?"

"That's not really any of your business."

Adrian shook his head. "Well, since you're here I should tell you, a student is missing."

Oh great, just what Ianto wanted to deal with. "What year?"

"Twelve."

"Then we wait." Ianto snapped before turning and heading toward his office, Adrian followed behind him. The possibility of a quiet night's sleep was becoming more remote by the second.

"Yes, well, the young Trevor said that the boy, Finian Young, went out to get booze and never came back, so I don't think this is a runaway situation."

"Fine, do what you want, send out the search party, I don't really care."

"Ianto!"

Ianto stopped and faced his friend. "What!"

"Used to be, you'd talk to me, tell me what's wrong, and now you shut me out. You shut us all out. It wasn't our fault."

"I never said it was," Ianto groaned. What was this, had they all decided to confront him about his behavior today?"

Adrian crossed his arms of his chest. "Actions speak louder than words."

Ianto turned his back, hoping Adrian would get the message. "Fuck off," he spat as he stomped into his office. He locked the door behind himself and settled down on his small couch for another sleepless night.

**TW—TW—TW**

Ianto moaned in frustration the next morning when he woke to someone beating on his door. He reached out to sense the rush, and it took him a moment through his sleepiness to recognize Jason.

"God, I'm sleeping, go the fuck away."

"Ianto, Finian Young is still missing… we're calling in his parents."

Ianto got off the couch to let Jason into the office. "Why don't you and Adrian go do a sweep of the city? Adrian will be able to sense him. If he doesn't, then we can assume that he ran away and left town. Teenagers sometimes do that. If they're allowed to, of course." It was a cheap shot and he knew it, but Ianto was in a foul mood, so he took it.

"Since when do you assume anything?" Jason snapped.

"I have more important things to worry about than some runaway teen! I'm the Minister, not a fucking babysitter!"

Jason shifted and took a calming breath. "Fine I'll handle it, but there's something else I'd like to discuss with you."

"What do you want to talk about?" Ianto said, annoyed. He hoped whatever it was would be quick, he just woke up, he didn't want to be dealing with anything but a coffee maker. And after all these years, he'd think Jason would know better than to bother him before coffee.

Jason shut the door to the office and looked at Ianto seriously. "Adrian says he was the one to relocate Max. Is that true?"

"Jace, what the fuck does that matter? It was over a century ago."

"It does, because… why the fuck wasn't I told?" Jason argued.

Ianto rolled his eyes. He didn't have the energy for this. "Listen Jason, I need a new leader for Kiev. Since it's your home Rift, I want you to lead it."

"But… I'm the headmaster of the school, and Adrian is the lead teacher. We can't both leave."

"I don't think I offered Adrian another position, just you," Ianto replied.

Jason narrowed his eyes. "He goes where I go."

"I don't particularly care." Ianto shrugged, leaving his office. He needed a shower, and coffee, and food. Of the three, coffee was by far the most critical.

**Jack**

Jack was angry as he stormed though the Cardiff Police Station. He shouldn't have found out the way he did, and if Trevor had any sense at all, he'd be praying Jason didn't read the report before someone got to him to let him know in a kinder way.

"A dead… no, a murdered Child, and I had to read about it over my morning coffee!" Jack snarled, shoving his way into Trevor's office and slamming the door shut behind him.

"Don't know what you're talking about."

Jack shook his head. "Oh really, so the fact that you are in the picture with the body is… what? Photoshopped?"

"Fucking press," Trevor muttered under his breath.

Jack didn't think Trevor's attempt at humor was very amusing at the moment. "He's Jason's charge, did you know that?"

Trevor nodded looking at his hands.

"And you're here instead of at the school telling him?"

Without looking up, Trevor spoke so softly Jack could barely hear him. "Please don't make me be the one. I can't stand to have him looking at me, knowing I could have saved Eric, and I didn't. I can't, Jack…" he was starting to crumble. Jack softened immediately and pulled Trevor up from his desk chair.

"Okay, shh, it's okay, we'll do it together. I know this is hard for you… you can share it all with me, you know I won't tell. I won't try and change things. I'll stand by you."

Trevor shook his head. "I can't... Jack I wish I could but..."

"Fine, we need to go tell Jace, together, right now. I've called Adrian to keep Jason from reading the news. Let's go, beautiful."

**TW—TW—TW**

Jason was in a meeting when Jack and Trevor arrived at the school. They waited in the hall.

"Those are my friend's parents. Finian Young. He's the next victim… we won't find him for another… oh god, he's being tortured right now… and I can't." Trevor started to fall to his knees, but Jack grabbed him and held him up.

"Hey, this isn't your fault, okay?" Jack said, lifting Trevor's chin with a finger to look him in the eye.

Trevor nodded, taking a breath. "I just keep thinking…If I stop it then young me will stop it… but he can't if he doesn't d…" Trevor stopped and pulled away from Jack. "Shit, no… this doesn't make sense because last night, the night that Finian went missing I..." he started to pace, his hand going to the back of his neck. "Fuck, one hundred fucking years and it took me this long…" He scowled and began to walk away, though Jack could hear him continuing to speak.

"Hey, where are you going," Jack called uselessly when he realized that he was going to have to be the one to tell Jason the bad news, and he was going to have to do it alone. He'd talk to Trevor about his odd behavior later.

Trevor continued down the hall, muttering to himself.

"Okay, Mr. and Mrs. Young, we'll let you know if anything new comes up. As I said before, the police won't file a report until it's been 48 hours, and we'll keep looking until then, but teens do this kinda thing. It's possible he'll be back before the end of the day," Jason said as he and the Youngs came out of his office.

Both of Finian's parents thanked Jason. As they walked down the hall, Jack felt a lump grow in his throat thinking about the pain the couple were about to go through. Not to mention the pain their son was currently going through.

"Oh Jack, how wonderful to see you," Jason said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. At least some things never changed; Jason still hated him. Normally Jack would have a quick comeback, but not today, not with the news he had to share.

"We need to talk, Jace."

"I don't really have time, Jack. I do have a life, you know. A school to run."

"Jason it's important, now get in the office and let's talk."

"Jack Harkness, I can't fucking believe you're about to do this without me," Adrian's voice echoed down the hall as he hurried to join Jason and Jack.

Jack sighed in relief. Good, he wouldn't have to do it alone. He turned back to Jason to see the man's face had gone white; he could see that Jason knew that what was coming would be bad, and he was even more grateful for Adrian's presence.

"Who is it? Not Ianto… no you'd be behaving differently. Trevor?" Jason started guessing as soon the door shut behind the three men.

"Eric, Jace," Adrian replied, taking a step closer to Jason. Jason's face crumpled.

"No," he said as he shook his head in disbelief.

Adrian grabbed him and pulled him close. "I'm so sorry, mon amour."

Jack felt like he was intruding on a private moment, so he left them to it, intending to head back to the police station to track down Trevor. Concentrating on how to ask the man what was going on, rather than on where he was going, Jack ran right into Ianto.

"Hey," Ianto said, "What are you doing here?"

Jack noticed Ianto was shifting nervously, and let out a breath. "Umm, Eric Ballard, one of Jason's charges, was murdered. I came to break the news."

"Murdered?"

Jack nodded. "It's not a good week for us, a murder and a missing person."

Ianto shook his head. "Yeah, it's crappy. Listen… I don't want, I mean… can we go to dinner tonight?"

"Umm, yeah, I'm always up for dinner with my husband, whom I love," Jack replied, a bit surprised that Ianto wanted to get dinner. Usually it was Jack asking and Ianto making up excuses not to.

"Really? I just thought after last night…"

Jack took a step forward and lifted Ianto's chin. "I hope you don't think I could ever stop loving you, Yan, because you know it's unconditional, no matter how…"

"Badly I treat you?"

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Yes." The time for sugarcoating things had passed long ago.

"I don't know either, Jack… what to do about us. Or anyone, for that matter."

Jack wasn't the only one Ianto had turned the cold shoulder to. Everyone received it. "Well, dinner tonight would be a great start. Especially if you'll talk to me. I mean _really_ talk to me."

Ianto gave a half smile that didn't meet his eyes, none of them ever did anymore. "Yeah, maybe it will. I'm going to go check the Rift logs, see if anyone came through last night. Did you have somewhere to be… ? You can join me if you want."

"Sure," Jack said. If Ianto was willing to spend time with him there was no way he'd pass it up. He wondered if he dared hope for the future.

**Jason**

Heading for the morgue, Jason wiped away yet another tear as he walked beside Adrian and Trevor. He had to see Eric. And though Trevor had told him it wasn't a good idea, he had given in after Jason gave the younger man a bit of a guilt trip.

"Jason… I couldn't have told you. I mean, you understand that, right?" Trevor said as soon as they got to the door of the morgue.

Yes, Jason understood that, he remembered all too well how timelines could trap people into doing things. Ianto was a prime example, and he knew how he had suffered for it. "I know, Trevor," Jason said. He grabbed Trevor's hand and gently squeezed it. "I wish you'd come to me yesterday though, when you found him."

"I was scared that you'd be angry with me, I… I don't want you to hate me."

Jason wanted to pull the man in for a comforting kiss, but the police station wasn't the place. "Never. Now let me see him, I just need to know for sure."

Trevor nodded and used his keycard to open the door. Adrian gripped Jason's arm and the trio walked in. Trevor went to one of the drawers that was about waist high and pulled it open. Jason released Adrian's hand and walked over to the body bag. He didn't look at the others as he unzipped the bag and saw Eric's lifeless body. He broke down again, gripping his lost charge's shoulders.

"What happened?" Jason asked through his tears. "No one would give me any details." He went to unzip the bag further, but Trevor's hand stopped him.

"Jace, don't. I'll tell you about it later."

Jason was afraid he knew what that meant. "I'm so sorry I didn't protect you," he sobbed. He stood there holding the body and crying until he felt Adrian's hand on his back.

"Mon amour, it's time to go." Adrian coaxed.

Jason nodded and zipped the bag back up, trying to keep new tears from coming when Trevor slid the drawer shut.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Chapter 3. I know these chapters are coming out a lot slower than I'd normally do them, but I'm also trying to work on an original so it's taking some of my time away. As always, Taamar is my beta, and I adore her. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood**

**Warning: implied non-con. **

**Rating: MA**

**Chapter 3**

**Finian Young**

Finian pulled against his shackles, trying once again to pull out of them. His hands were small, but they weren't about to slip out of the metal cuffs around his wrists. He kept trying though, because it was the only hope he had.

He heard the door to his cell unlock, and he started to shake. He still ached from the man's first brutal treatment of him; he wondered why he hadn't been killed yet, and the only possible answer terrified him. The man walked in, and a man Finian hadn't seen before followed behind him.

"Tell him it's time to come back, he needs to get out of Kiev before the Minister arrives; it would only take a glimpse of him in the wrong place to ruin everything," he overheard the first man saying to the second man.

"I'm very aware. He'll leave in within the week." The second man said. He was holding a tattoo gun like the one Finian had seen the day he had gone with his sister to get her belly button pierced. He closed his eyes and fought back tears. He would never see his sister again, and he knew it.

The man set the gun down on a small table and looked over at the first man. "Wanna fuck the whore before or after we mark him?"

The first man smiled cruelly, baring his teeth. "Why not both?"

**Ianto**

Ianto didn't know what had prompted him to ask Jack to dinner. It had been years since their relationship had been anything beyond business, and he could barely remember that last time he had offered to spend time with his husband. Usually it was the other man begging him, and Ianto giving in after turning him down a dozen or so times. And even then, he had held back. He hadn't stopped loving Jack, but he still couldn't forgive. In fact, he didn't _want_ to forgive, and that's why he had been so cold; he knew that if he thawed even the tiniest bit that he'd be back in Jack's arms.

Not that he didn't miss being in Jack's arms. That had stopped, too. Yes, they technically still lived together, but even when Ianto stayed in the flat he slept in a separate room. And sex? Not in a long time. In the beginning there had been a few angry fucks, but that ended with an overheard conversation. '_And he never notices you crying_?' Trevor had asked. Jack had snorted into his glass of scotch '_Why would he? He never bothers to look at my face anymore. Not even then. But it's the only thing he's willing to take from me.' _And he had been right.

Ianto never did look at Jack's face anymore, because every time he did he remembered Jack cuffing him to his desk to keep him there while Jack took Bethan to her sacrifice. Yes, she had chosen it, and yes, the others had supported her, but it had been Jack who restrained him and delivered her. Ianto had nearly torn his own hands off getting out of the cuffs. When he arrived at the warehouse, the bones of his hands still grinding together trying to heal, he had found he was too late. There was Bethan, lifeless on the floor. And there was Jack at the controls, just like with Steven. Except with Steven, death was the end; with Bethan it was just the beginning of what could happen to her. What if she ended up on the planet with two suns? After his experiences there, he couldn't bear to think about what might happen to a perpetual child who would always heal. And it had been Jack who sent her to her fate.

So, no. He couldn't look at Jack, but he also couldn't have sex with him knowing he was crying. So that was that. But, oh, how he missed it, and the quiet comfort of Jack's embrace. So in a moment of weakness, stunned by the murder of Jason's charge, and with his mind full of Jack's distracting scent, he had asked Jack to dinner. And because he would be going to Kiev, and Jack had made it clear that he couldn't wait forever, Ianto knew this might be the last time, so he wanted to make the most of it. For Jack's sake, if not his own.

**TW—TW—TW**

Dinner with Jack had been strange, at first. Like a suit that still fit perfectly, but that hadn't been worn in so long he'd forgotten how to move in it. He _was_ wearing a suit, actually. The design was a century out of date, but he thought Jack might appreciate the effort.

The conversation had started innocently enough.

"How's the young Trevor?" Ianto asked, thinking it was a safe, neutral topic.

"Settling in. I haven't seen him since his friend Finian went missing." Jack looked away, and Ianto could tell he was holding something back.

He took a guess. "Has our Trevor said anything about that?"

Jack twitched. Definitely hiding something. "You know he couldn't. After seeing what happened to you, he's been very careful not to talk about what he knows or affect his timeline in any way. He hasn't even let the boy know he's around."

"Have you tried seducing the information out of him?"

Jack shrugged. "You sleep with him more these days than I do, maybe you should try?"

Ianto couldn't resist teasing Jack, just a bit. "What, and abuse my position? He's my PA, Jack, and it would be highly improper for me to let my personal and professional relationships with him get tangled up. It would be harassment!" Ianto smirked until he saw the sad look on Jack's face.

"It's only harassment if he doesn't like it, Ianto." Jack returned softly. He had said that to Ianto on his very first day at Torchwood, and Ianto had liked it, very much. He'd never intended to fall for Jack Harkness, but he had, almost from the very start. He remembered their first meeting that night in Bute Park, Ianto dressed in those unbelievably tight jeans, and Jack in that coat. And now that he thought about it, he couldn't remember the last time he had seen the coat.

"I miss the coat," Ianto said wistfully, smiling across the table at his husband.

Jack laughed at the apparent non sequitur. "It's safe in that glass case. Besides, at least this way you don't have to worry about getting out the blood stains."

Ianto nodded. So far everything has gone smoothly, but he wanted to keep the conversation from straying to more serious topics. "I don't wash your clothes anymore, Jack," Ianto reminded him.

Jacks hand came across the table and gripped Ianto's. "If you want we could go back to the flat, and I could slip it on for you?"

"With that outfit? It would be a crime against fashion," Ianto flirted. He was a little rusty, he supposed, but it felt good.

"Says the man in a hundred year old suit," Jack responded with a smile.

"Classics never go out of style."

"And that coat is a classic. I wouldn't have to wear anything else." Jack winked.

Ianto couldn't believe that after all this time Jack could still make him blush. More than that, Jack could still make him hard with a single comment. The idea of Jack in nothing but the coat was so arousing that Ianto forgot all his intentions of not getting to close. Maybe just one more time, before Kiev? It had been so long, and if he was lucky, Jack would be too tired to bring up their issues. If he wasn't that lucky, well, serious talks always seemed to go better after sex. Ianto signaled the waiter for the cheque.

The two were attacking each other's lips as soon as the lift doors closed behind them. Ianto tried to take control, but Jack overruled it. Everything about the way Jack was behaving proved that he needed to call the shots, and Ianto gladly obliged. He felt an odd sense of relief; it had been a long time since he'd been able to let someone else take charge.

Jack forced Ianto against the wall of the lift before kissing down his neck and biting the pulse point there. "I love you," he growled.

"I love you too," Ianto breathed out, leaning his head back and giving Jack more access. Jack still knew how to drive him crazy.

"Then don't go to Kiev," Jack whispered.

_Fuck, shit, and hell_, Ianto thought as he pushed Jack away. "I have to, Jack."

Jack shook his head. "You don't. That was a lie last night, and it's a lie now. You can control it from here. Stay here, with me."

Ianto closed his eyes. "I can't do this, Jack, this fight where you force me to choose between you and my responsibilities. I love you, you know that, but Kiev needs me."

"Do I know that, Ianto? How have you let me know that?" The lift came to a stop. "Are you coming in," Jack asked. Ianto nodded, and the two walked out of the lift into their flat. Jack took Ianto's hand and led him toward their bedroom.

Ianto shifted nervously when Jack shut the door behind them. He wasn't sure if they were still fighting or not. He jumped when Jack's hands wrapped around his waist from behind.

"Didn't mean you startle you," Jack mumbled, his lips attacking Ianto's neck.

"You didn't," Ianto replied, closing his eyes and praying that Jack wouldn't bring up Kiev again. Just for this one night he needed to pretend that things were ok between them.

Jack's hands traveled down Ianto's stomach till they reached his trousers. He teased them open and his hand slipped inside them, bypassing Ianto's briefs and gripping the hardening cock within. "Please stay with me."

"You're not playing fair," Ianto groaned, bucking into Jack's hand.

Jack removed his hand with a sigh. "Take your shoes off so I can rid you of these unnecessary clothes."

Ianto obeyed, removing the shoes and feeling that sinking feeling in his heart again. Was this going to be a goodbye fuck? If Ianto left for Kiev, would Jack be here when he got back?

"I don't want this to be the last time," Ianto said, his voice cracking as he pulled his tie off and began to unbutton his shirt.

Jack grabbed his hands and turned Ianto toward him. "Why would it be?"

"You said… that if I went to Kiev..." Ianto began, but he couldn't continue because tears over took him.

"Shh…" Jack whispered, pulling Ianto close and embracing him tightly. "You know that was an empty threat."

Ianto shook his head. "I didn't. I don't know anything anymore, not when it comes to us. Or anyone."

"It hurts so much to hear you say that. To think that you don't know how much I love you."

Ianto buried his head into Jack's chest and let a new string of tears come. He couldn't talk any longer. Jack pulled away gently and wiped a tear off his cheek.

"You are my life. I will be here for you always," Jack promised. Ianto nodded, sniffling. "Let me show you," Jack continued. He finished unbuttoning Ianto's shirt and pushed it off his shoulders. He raised Ianto's chin and kissed away his few remaining tears. He carried his kisses down, sucking gently on the pulse point on Ianto's neck. Ianto cherished the feeling of his lover's lips on his skin, but he needed something else. He slid his briefs down his hips and stepped out of them, then unbuttoned Jack's shirt as he kissed his way down the man's neck, stopping to bite Jack's nipples until they hardened. He dropped to his knees and nuzzled Jack's crotch though his trousers, smiling as Jack inhaled a sharp breath. He took Jack's cock out and teased it with his tongue, enjoying the salty sweetness at the tip. Jack threaded his fingers through his hair, and Ianto took him deep.

He hadn't realized how much he's missed this. How could he have forgotten the sweetness of Jack's mouth or the feel of Jack's skin sliding over his own? How could he have denied himself the joy of Jack's cock sliding down his throat and the beautiful sound of Jack moaning his name?

"I need you," Jack pleaded, cupping Ianto's chin gently and easing him back to his feet. He pressed their bodies together and steered them to the bed they hadn't shared in what felt like forever. He slipped out of his clothes, and lowered Ianto into his sheets. Ianto pulled Jack in to a kiss. Jack ran his tongue over his lips, and Ianto eagerly parted them, inviting him in. No one kissed him like Jack, and he gave in to the sensation, grasping his hands in Jacks hair and grinding against him, needing to be as close as possible. Ianto reached for the bedside table and found what he was searching for. He handed Jack the bottle of lube and settled back, waiting for Jack to open him, but to his surprise, Jack slicked Ianto's cock rather than his own. Ianto's eyes widened, and before he could comment, Jack was astride him and lowering himself, head thrown back and gasping at the burn Ianto knew he must be feeling.

Ianto felt his heart pounding, and they were both still for a moment. Then Jack leaned forward and kissed Ianto tenderly, murmuring, "Missed you, missed you, missed you," against his lips as he rode Ianto slowly.

"God, Jack, so tight," Ianto moaned

"I've been waiting for you,"

Ianto stilled. Jack was either lying, or he was implying something extraordinary. Either would break Ianto's heart; he had to know. "Don't be ridiculous, Jack," he said lightly, "It's been, what, 18 years? I know perfectly well you haven't been celibate."

"17 years, 8 months, 25 days, and about 14 hours. And yes, I've fucked other people, but no one's fucked me. I couldn't give myself to anyone else. I'd have waited forever for you."

Overwhelmed by the enormity of Jack's devotion, he pulled Jack down for a deep kiss, and Jack moved against him. He felt Jack's cock between them, and wrapped his hand around it, stroking in time to their movements. Remembering what he had overheard, Ianto looked him directly in the eye, and the love and passion he felt from Jack made him need more. He grasped Jack's hips and thrust up, groaning at the wondrous heat of Jack surrounding him.

Jack sped up, and Ianto slammed hard into him. "Please, Ianto," he gasped, "Come for me. Come with me. _Ianto!_" As Jack screamed his name, Ianto could feel him convulsing around his cock. He began to tremble, then drove himself deep and exploded within his lover and beloved, crying his name.

When they separated, whispering endearments and nibbling at each other's lips, Ianto noticed that the pillow was wet with tears, but he didn't know whose they were.

**TW—TW—TW**

Ianto smiled at his sleeping lover. He envied Jack; he looked at total peace at the moment. He knew he should stay, be there when Jack woke, but he couldn't sleep. His mind wouldn't shut down. He finally gave up and got out of bed.

What he wanted was coffee. He knew it was the last thing he needed in the middle of the night, but he wanted it. Unfortunately, he didn't have any in the flat because he was rarely at the flat anymore; he had no idea what Jack had been drinking in the mornings. He dressed quickly and made the trip across town to the school. He was halfway to the kitchen when he stopped and remembered something. He needed to teach the young Trevor how to make his coffee. He looked at his watch and realized it was only three am. He shrugged and headed toward the young man's dorm anyway.

Ianto had been following young Trevor from a distance, but there had been no reason for the Minister to be involved in his education, so he'd let Jack and the school handle things. Tonight, though, was a different matter. And, in keeping with his own 'Firearms Training' with Jack, he thought he knew just how to do it. Ianto chuckled to himself. The boy wouldn't know what hit him.

"Trevor." Ianto shook the sleeping man. Trevor grumbled, but stayed asleep. Ianto looked around the dorm. It was dark, none of them would see. He bent forward and gently nipped Trevor's ear. "Wake up, sleeping beauty," he breathed. Trevor swatted him away. Ianto realized he needed to up his game. He pulled the covers off Trevor's body before very quietly crawling on top of the sleeping Welshman and hovering above him. Trevor's eyes popped open.

"Minister?" he squeaked in surprise.

Ianto shook his head and bent down to gently kiss Trevor's lips. "No, right now I'm the man who's going to teach you how to make coffee."

"Why?"

Ianto shrugged and got off the bed, holding his hand out.

Trevor rolled out of bed and grabbed his robe. He pulled it on over his pajamas and yawned. "Is this going to take long?"

"I don't know, that depends on how quickly you learn." Ianto grinned.

**TW—TW—TW**

Ianto didn't see the elder Trevor until 5 days later. He was packing his bags when the man came into the room and sat on Ianto's bed. He was quiet for a moment, just watching as Ianto neatly folded his underwear, then he spoke, joining the 'let's tell Ianto to suck it up' bandwagon.

"You need a break."

Ianto rolled his eyes and glared at his personal assistant. "I can assure you I don't."

"I'm on your side, Minister, and I just want you to be happy; I can clearly see that you aren't. You think Bethan would be pleased with the way you've been behaving?"

"Don't presume to tell me what would 'please' my daughter. Don't pretend you know what I'm going through. You've never had a child, you don't know what it feels like to lose one. It's the worst pain imaginable. You can't just will it away, it clings to your heart like a parasite and it doesn't let go."

"You're right, I don't know any of that. What I do know is how it feels to have one's role model turn his back on you. I know that I'm going crazy because of all the things I've seen, all the shit that's about to happen, and I can't tell, I can't breathe. I don't know how to cope, and you're the only one I know who might understand. I know what it feels like to be drowning in confusion and pain with no one to throw me a line."

Ianto looked up from his suitcase to see Trevor wipe a tear from his cheek and sigh before continuing. "I went to see Finian a few weeks back. Just to see him, one last time. He was my friend, and right now he's somewhere being tortured, and I had to let it happen."

Ianto walked over to Trevor and sat beside him. He wrapped an arm around him and kissed his head. "I'm sorry, I do know how hard this is for you."

"There's so much more. So much… I know you'll all hate me afterward. I just–"

"No, we won't. We'll always love you, Trevor. Me, Jack, Jace, Adrian, and Brody, we all love you." Ianto thought he felt Trevor's body stiffen at Brody's name, but he couldn't imagine why, so he brushed it aside. "Is there anything you want to share with me now? Before I leave town for a while?" Ianto asked, pulling away and looking down at Trevor.

"Jack'll find Finian tonight."

Ianto tightened his hold on the younger man. "Then at least his personal hell is coming to an end, and hopefully he'll have a nicer second life."

Trevor nodded and sniffled. "Yeah, there's that."

"Would a blow job cheer you up?"

Trevor chuckled against his chest. "No… well, probably."

Ianto got up and went back to packing his bag. "Go ask Jack," he quipped.

With a roll of his eyes, Trevor got up and headed toward the door. "Have a nice trip, Minister."

**Adrian**

Something was up with Jason. Of course, the loss of a charge always made his favorite tenth century knight distant and moody, but there was something else. Something that Jason was keeping from Adrian, and Adrian was determined to figure it out.

"Just tell me," Adrian begged over lunch.

"What?" Jason said with his mouth full of food.

Adrian sighed. "I know when you're keeping things from me, mon amour."

Jason looked up. "Ianto's offered me a Leader position."

Adrian was confused. Jack was the Leader. Was Ianto firing Jack? Maybe Jack was going to go to Kiev with Ianto. He hoped so, he'd had enough of their angst, and it was about damn time they got their shit together. It was making everyone miserable. "What about Jack?"

"He didn't offer me the Cardiff Rift. He wants me in Kiev."

Adrian laughed, then stopped. "Oh, you're serious? No, I'm not moving to Kiev."

"Well, what if I want to? I've wanted a Leadership position since I lost Cardiff." Jason spat, sounding angry. "I fought for you to be allowed to come with me, I want this opportunity to live up to Ianto's trust."

"Fine, you can go without me then."

Jason got up, "You hate it here, and you hate being a teacher. Why the fuck do you want to stay, what's wrong with Kiev?"

"This is our home."

"It that your only argument? 'This is our home?'"

"Do you really want to go back there? Back to where it all happened?"

"It was twelve hundred years ago. I think I'm over it by now."

Adrian had known that wasn't going to work, but he couldn't believe Jason wanted to leave. Ianto had already gone; if both Adrian and Jason left then Jack would be all alone, and Jack really couldn't leave Cardiff. Adrian knew better than to say that out loud, that Jack was the reason he wanted to stay.

They sat in an awkward silence. "I don't want to go," Adrian said after a moment.

"Well, I do," Jason said, standing up. "I'm not hungry anymore." He turned his back and walked away.

Adrian looked down at his plate. He wasn't hungry any longer either.

**Trevor**

"Where have you been?" Trevor asked Brody as soon as the man walk through the door.

Brody looked at him with confusion. "Trevor?" he said, as if he wasn't sure. Brody hadn't expected him tonight, and Trevor hoped that would keep the man off balance.

"Yes, Trevor Frost homicide detective, PA to the Minister," Trevor said touching his chest before pointing a Brody. "Brody Collins, rapist and murderer."

Brody narrowed his eyes and smirked, not bothering to deny it. "Yes, how did you know?"

"I'm not about to tell you," Trevor growled. He'd known all along, of course. Ever since the day his four men had married each other. He sometimes wondered if he was the reason, if somehow he'd driven Brody to become what he was. It would be one more reason for the others to hate him. Brody took a step closer to Trevor, but he refused to be intimidated. "Who's your partner? Because I know you have one. You were here with me the night Finian went missing."

"I'm not about to tell you," Brody leered, mocking him with his own words. He brought his hand up to touch Trevor's face with odd tenderness. Brody was always like this, switching between contempt and gentle kindness with lightning speed, as if he still believed Trevor could love him. "You're so beautiful, my little whore."

Trevor took a step back. "It's not our night, we have a deal!"

"Do you think rapists and murderers care about 'deals'?" Brody said, lunging forward. Trevor jumped out of the way and ran toward the living room. Brody caught him and pushed him face forward into the carpet. Trevor pretended to give in. He stopped fighting and relaxed his body. He tried not to pull away when Brody ran his hand over his clothed ass. "There's a good little whore."

Trevor rolled his eyes. He wasn't, nor would he ever be a 'good little whore'. Jack had taught him how to wait for the right moment. He would have a better chance of getting away if he waited for Brody to think he'd given in, then he could strike. He vowed to himself then and there that this was the last time he'd let Brody touch him.

Brody pulled them both to their feet and walked them toward the bedroom. Trevor allowed it, letting his captor believe he'd given up. "Are you going to punish me for running?" Trevor asked with feigned nervousness.

"No, I forgive you," Brody whispered, "just remember that you belong to me." He released his hold on Trevor and brought his hand up to caress the Welshman's face once again.

Trevor smiled, then punched Brody with all he had before running once again. This time, with more of a head start, he made it out the door. The nearest shuttle was a block over, and Trevor didn't slow to a walk till he saw it. Trevor wanted to cry in relief when he reached it, but he didn't. He just held on to the train and let it take him far away from Brody Collins.

**Jason**

Jason sat on the steps in front of the school and wiped an angry tear from his eye. Just as Adrian could read him, Jason could read Adrian. He knew the real reason that Adrian didn't want to leave Cardiff, and it made him want to beat someone.

Jack Fucking Harkness. Jason knew it wasn't the man's fault, he knew it would be cruel to leave Jack here alone, but would he really be alone? No, Trevor would still be here, couldn't Adrian see that? No, he couldn't… maybe because he was in love with Jack. Jason shook his head. He was being ridiculous. Adrian didn't want to leave Jack because he cared for others and put their needs above his own. It was one of the many reason Jason loved the Frenchman. He pushed himself to his feet. He needed to go apologize and admit that he didn't really want to leave Cardiff, either.

"Jason," a voice called. Jason turned to see Trevor walking his way. He knew it was the elder of the two versions, the younger would never call him by his first name.

"What's wrong?" Jason asked when Trevor got closer. He could see that the man was shaking, even at a distance. Trevor rushed forward and all but jumped into Jason's arms. Jason wrapped his arms tight about the Welshman, who'd started crying. "Shh, you're okay, I've got you. Let's go inside and you can tell me what happened."

Trevor shook his head. "Can't tell you."

"Let's go inside anyway."

Adrian was in the bedroom when Jason led Trevor into it. He looked up from his tablet in surprise. He and Jason did have a strict 'no one else in our room if we're fighting' rule, but this was a special case. Jason couldn't turn Trevor away when the man was so upset, and he knew Adrian would understand once he explained.

"Get comfortable while I have a quick talk with my husband," Jason told Trevor. He gestured toward the door with his eyes, and Adrian got up and followed him out into the hall.

"What happened?" Adrian asked as soon as the door had shut behind them.

Jason shook his head. "I don't know, whatever it was he's pretty badly shaken and I couldn't send him away."

"Of course, I wouldn't have either. Jace, I love you and I hate when we're mad at each other."

"I know, I love you too. I don't really want to go to Kiev. I really do like it here. I don't need to lead," Jason admitted, caressing his lover's face.

Adrian leaned into his touch, and Jason knew that all was well between them. "Alright let's go take care of Trevor," he said, placing a gentle kiss on Jason's palm.

**Jack**

Cardiff had become busier over the years, but it was still possible to find a quiet place to think if one knew where to look. Jack just wanted to be alone with his thoughts in a place where he wouldn't be immediately overcome by memories of Ianto. His husband had left for Kiev that morning, and Jack's last words to him had been 'please don't go'. He was devastated that Ianto had gone. After their reunion the other night, Jack actually allowed himself to hope a bit, only to wake to a cold, empty bed with his heart crashing to his stomach.

To his relief, Ianto had returned at lunch the next day, and they had spent the better part of the past five days together. It had almost been like old times. Though they hadn't discussed the big issues yet, Jack thought maybe Ianto was ready to work on things. Then it all came crashing down, and his little bubble of happiness burst. Until he'd seen the plane take off, he had been hoping that Ianto would change his mind and stay. But it didn't happen.

Jack came out of a small alleyway and froze. A body was draped over a bench. Jack walked forward to get a better look. The young boy's pale skin seemed to glow in the darkness, and Jack could see straps on his ankles and his wrists, just as there had been on Eric Ballard when he was found. And a word was tattooed on his lower back. 'Putin'.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: So sorry this took so long. We've had a bunch of real life stuff going on. We're better now… (one of the real life things was my birthday… 26 now.) Anyway 'nuff about me. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood.**

**Warnings: Mentions of Non-con and murder… And you know usual stuff. **

**Rating: MA**

**Chapter 4**

**Trevor **

It had been three months since Finian's body was found, and it wasn't hard to see that Trevor's favorite people were worried about him. There'd been four more victims, all slender, light-haired boys, except for one. The lone female victim was also slim and blond, but with her cropped hair she was easily mistaken for a boy. She was also the only victim who hadn't been sexually assaulted. Either the murderers had taken her by mistake, or they had a copycat on their hands.

Rumors and theories were flying around the city as people tried to make sense of the murders, but thus far they'd only brought in one suspect, a man named Gerry Waters. Recently released from prison for good behavior, Gerry had been convicted of running a prostitution ring twenty-five years before, and the main witness in the case had been a young blond man who'd been forced to work for him. Between the physical similarities and the word scrawled on the recent victims, they'd felt confident in bringing him in, but his DNA hadn't been a match for the euphemistically named 'fluids' they'd found on the bodies. Trevor had also checked Brody against the samples from the victims, but that hadn't matched either, which Trevor took as confirmation that the man wasn't working alone.

Trevor shifted under Jack's weight. He was, frankly, going a bit crazy with his friends' over protectiveness. He was used to spending more time alone, but because he fit the description of the murder victims he and Adrian were always kept within arm's reach of either Jason or Jack. The restrictions were inching past irritating and toward ridiculous, but it was comforting to know they cared, even if they were treating him like the 17 year old he appeared to be. He remembered from his student days that Jason had put the school in lockdown, and even gone so far as to install motion detectors on all the doors; if someone moved, Jason knew about it. When he had lived through it the first time he had been so distraught by Finian's death that he hadn't cared. He practically shut down. He'd missed Finian so much, and he had blamed himself for letting his friend leave that night. Still did, when he allowed himself to think about it.

"Jack, I need to pee, can you maybe let me up?"

"No, I'm too comfortable," Jack murmured.

"How comfortable do you think you'll be when I piss on you?"

Jack laughed. "I suppose warm for a minute then cold and wet."

"Yep, so?" Trevor pressed. Jack let him up. The Welshman got up and ran to the loo, sighing happily as he released his bladder. You have to enjoy the little things, he thought. Knowing that he'd never make it out of the flat if he got back in bed with Jack, he went ahead and hopped in the shower to get ready for his day. He had a meeting to go over the latest findings of the 'Collar Killer'. Ridiculous name, Trevor thought, because while every victim did have a collar, they also had restraints on their ankles and wrists, not to mention the tattoos on their backs, but in the end it didn't matter how silly the name was. Trevor wasn't in charge of naming serial killers, just catching them. He just couldn't catch this one. Yet.

The door to the bathroom opened, and Jack joined him in the shower, grabbing his rag from him and washing his back gently. Trevor sighed and allowed himself to enjoy the soft touch. He remembered the first time he'd been with Jack. It had been nothing short of glorious. Thoughts of his first life reminded him that the day was fast approaching when he'd need to discuss somethings with his younger self. He'd tried to avoid it as much as possible, but he was stuck doing the things he remembered having done, just as Ianto had been. He hoped Ianto would be a bit more open with him when he got back from Kiev, Trevor could really use his support. Jack's hand went from scrubbing his back to a less innocent area, and Trevor stopped thinking about anything at all. He could worry about his young self later.

**Jason **

As much as Jason hated to admit it, he needed to talk to Jack. Jack was the Cardiff Leader, and while Jason would normally skip right over him and go to the Minister, Ianto was still in Kiev. Jason had been in meetings all morning, and he'd left Adrian in Jack's care. So why the hell had Jack come in to his office alone?

"Where's Adrian?" Jason shouted. He'd entrusted Jack with his husband's safety, and Jack had let him out of his sight. Jason was furious.

"In his office. He locked the door behind me, so don't panic. I just… You wouldn't have brought me here if you didn't know something. Do you know who's doing this?"

Jason bit his lip. "Well, I have a theory. Sit." Jack sat.

"Did Ianto ever tell you about the 2007 convention?"

"Yes, that's when Aria died."

"Other than that, how much do you know about it?" Jason asked.

"Not much. Ianto was pretty focused on that part, both of him."

Jason nodded. "Then let me give you some background. There'd been a rebellion among the Children. Ianto had to order a lot of relocations, at least 30, and some of the other leaders thought that they'd get their people back if they killed Little Ianto. Ianto in his first life, I mean. The one you knew back then. Clearly they didn't succeed in changing the timeline, but that meant Ianto had to watch Aria die again. Anyway, one of them, Max Oldenburg, didn't care about the rebel relocations, he just wanted revenge. He'd been chafing against the Minister's restrictions for decades. Ianto knew he was running a whore house and trafficking in drugs; I remember confronting him about it, but he said he couldn't do anything except rescue the boy Max was keeping for 'personal use'. He promised me that Max would get what he had coming, and since he'd been through it before, I believed him. When Max and the other four leaders were relocated, I assumed Ianto had done it. Turns out it was Adrian, and they never thought to tell me. That's not all, either. Apparently Max tried to lure Adrian to his bed when they first met, and Adrian turned him down and publically humiliated him. After that he was always cruel to Adrian. He called him a weakling, made fun of him for his apparent age, and questioned leadership of the Salem Rift. He has every reason to want to hurt both Adrian and Ianto."

"Where were you when Max was being relocated?" Jack asked curiously.

"Taking care of the younger Ianto. Trying to comfort him, telling him Aria had likely been relocated somewhere lovely. Holding him while he cried. Knowing that he'd have to endure it all again, and wishing I could stop it." Jason replied solemnly. "It was one of the hardest things I've ever done, and for a long time I resented Ianto for asking it of me."

Jack shifted, obviously uncomfortable with the change in the conversation. "So you think it's this Max guy?"

"Yep. I mean, the day that…" Jason choked up a bit, "that Eric was found, remember, it was the day the Weevils got loose in the zoo? I had a group of third years there and… I saw him. Adrian thinks I'm crazy, because… how would he have come through without us knowing? Especially with Ianto checking the Rifts three times a day, but it was him, I swear it."

"Unless he had help? Someone who knew he was coming." Jack said.

"Yeah, and who would have known?" Jason thought out loud. The only double they had in Cardiff was Trevor, and while the boy seemed to know a lot more than he was saying, Jason couldn't believe for one moment that Trevor, their Trevor, would have helped Max.

"Maybe he came through on a different planet and traveled here on his own?"

"We check all incoming ships, though. We'd know, we'd have his picture, and I've looked, Jack. Countless times, but he's not there."

"You want to hear my theory?"

"Do tell," Jason said, suddenly regretting his decision to talk to Jack, not because he didn't need to but because the man's pheromones were becoming overwhelming. Jason always needed to be in control of his sexuality, and Jack made him feel… _not_. He wondered how quickly he could get the man out of his office.

Jack shifted. "I haven't told anyone… so let's keep it between us okay?"

"Just spill it, Harkness."

"Brody Collins."

Jason looked at him in disbelief. "The Minister's favorite charge? Really Jack, if Ianto heard you say–"

"Jace," interrupted Jack. Jack knew Jason hated it when he used his nickname, the bastard, "I've thought long and hard about this, okay? So Trevor has been going to Brody on a certain schedule for the last century. It's a seven week rotation. Week one, Monday; week two, Tuesday; week three, Wednesday… and so on. You ever notice that?"

"No," Jason replied. Who noticed things like that? Seriously?

"Anyway, these last three months, ever since I found Finian, Trevor hasn't gone to Brody's once. I have a hunch that Brody's known something about Trevor and has been blackmailing him, but Trevor recently discovered something about Brody, so now all bets are off."

"Huh…" Jason mused. "Question is, what kinda information do they have on each other? Trevor was really upset about something the day Ianto left, and that's when you say he stopped seeing Brody?" It made sense, but Jason saw flaw in the reasoning. For one, why was Brody the bad guy? Couldn't it be that Trevor was the one blackmailing from the beginning? Or maybe blackmailing wasn't involved at all. Maybe Trevor was the one who'd helped Max? As much as Jason hated to think that could be true, he had to consider all the possibilities, no matter how unlikely or distressing. Especially with the safety of his students on the line.

Jack shrugged. There was a pause as Jack's eyes shifted between Jason and the door behind his desk. It took all of Jason's self control not to smirk; behind that door he had a bit of a recreational bondage room, though Adrian and the elder Trevor claimed Jack didn't believe it existed. It had become an ongoing joke. Finally, just as Jason's cheeks were starting to ache from the strain of not laughing, Jack focused his attention on Jason once again.

"I say we find out. I'll work on Trevor, you work on Brody," Jack suggested.

"Sounds like a plan." Jason agreed. "Is there anything else?" he added dryly when he saw that Jack's eyes had gone back to the door behind him.

"Watcha got behind that door?"

Jason raised his eyebrow. "Just a closet, Jack."

"Really? Because I've heard… rumors."

"And rumors are all you'll ever know," Jason responded, looking down at the tablet on his desk.

Jack let out a whine. "Please, Jason?"

"Nope."

"See, to me that only proves that it's not just a closet."

"Whatever."

Jack got up with a huff. "How can I get an invitation into that room, Jace?"

Jason only laughed under his breath and shook his head.

"What if I call you sir? Please sir, let me into the room?"

"Stop Jack," Jason warned, shifting in seat.

Jack got up and walked around the desk. He leaned against it and looked down at Jason. "You ever think about that kiss?"

"What kiss?" Jason replied shifting again trying to block out Jack's damned scent. He knew which kiss Jack was referring to. He'd always been grateful that the guard had interrupted them, but that didn't keep him from thinking about what would have happened if he hadn't.

"Oh, sir, I think you know which kiss." Jack licked his lips, and Jason couldn't help but stare at his mouth.

Jason felt his cock stir, but this was _Jack_. He'd hated the man for a hundred years, and he wasn't going to let a simple three letter word weaken his resolve. "Okay, that's enough with the 'sir'. I'm not about to fuck you right now. Especially not in that perfectly ordinary closet."

"Ahh… but one day? So there's still hope?"

Jason put his head on the desk and sighed. "Get the fuck out, Jack."

Jack brushed his fingers against Jason's arm, and he felt the promise in the man's touch. Jack walked toward the door with a teasing wiggle. "I'll talk to you after I discuss Brody with Trevor," he said. As he walked through the door he turned and looked Jason right in the eye, then shifted his gaze to his crotch. "_Sir_."

As Jack disappeared down the hall, Jason scowled and readjusted his trousers. Damn Jack Harkness for being so stinking hot.

**Adrian **

Adrian paced his office. He was going stir-crazy. Three months, and he'd barely had a moment to himself. Jason was being ridiculous, keeping Adrian locked up in the school, and barely letting him out of his sight. But it wasn't just Adrian Jason was protecting. Any scrawny blond male within the school was stuck on the premises. In fact, Jason wasn't really letting anyone in or out of the school. He had the campus on lockdown. Everyone was miserable, and everyone was tense.

Adrian stopped pacing when he heard a knock on the door. He opened it and was surprised to see Trevor, though he wasn't sure which one it was.

"Hello sir, umm, I'm between classes and was wondering if…"

Adrian pulled the boy into the room and shoved him against the wall kissing him passionately, grateful for the distraction. He kicked his office door shut without breaking the kiss. "Yes, Trevor, I have time for a quick fuck."

Trevor pulled away. "Actually, I wanted to ask you about my grade."

"Oh, sorry," Adrian said, a bit embarrassed. He went behind his desk and started to pull up the students' grades.

"I'm only joking, sir," Trevor teased. Adrian looked back at the boy and grinned. Cheeky. He closed the gap between them in two big strides and pushed Trevor back against the wall with his body.

"You're a naughty boy." Adrian smiled, running a finger along Trevor's jaw and smiling when he shivered. "I like it." He bent and kissed Trevor gently. He was about to deepen the kiss when there was another knock on the door. Trevor stuck out his bottom lip in the most adorable way. "I'm sure this won't take long," Adrian assured him, stepping away and opening the door. There was Jack, leaning against the door frame and looking delicious.

"Hey, wanna do lunch?" said Jack as he stepped into the room. Adrian could only smile; Jack always entered his office, any office, as if he owned it. Jack brightened when he saw Trevor. "Oh hey, beautiful, aren't you supposed to be in class?"

Jack could always tell the Trevors apart, and Adrian had no idea how.

"I'm between, sir, I was just getting my grade."

"Oh, well you wanna do lunch with us?" Jack asked, draping himself across Adrian's desk chair.

"Jack, he has class in fifteen minutes. Stop encouraging him to skip," Adrian chided.

Trevor stepped away from the wall he had been leaning against and sat in the chair across from Jack, biting his lip as if to keep from laughing. He'd skipped other classes to be with Adrian before, but there was no way Adrian was going to admit that now. Jack shook his head. "I'm not encouraging him to skip. Jeez. I didn't know," Jack insisted.

"Alright, Jack, I'll have lunch if you'll let me finish up my meeting with Mr. Frost," Adrian replied. Jack looked over at Trevor.

"Do you want to join us for lunch?" Jack mock whispered to his charge. Trevor nodded.

Adrian scowled at Jack. "Fine Jack, Trevor and I will come to lunch with you after we finish here. We'll meet you in the lobby."

Jack stuck out his bottom lip, "I can't watch?"

Dang, Adrian thought he was being sneaky about it by saying it was a 'meeting'. He should have known better, Jack Harkness could smell arousal from miles away. "No Jack, you can't watch."

"Spoilsport," Jack replied with a wink at Trevor. "Okay, I'll meet you in the lobby." With that, he left the office.

Trevor got up and Adrian smiled as the boy locked the door and began to undress. He's always felt that the boy had a special affection for him, and it was mutual. They had a special bond. It was different from his bond with Jason, of course, but, if Adrian was putting numbers on all those he loved, he's pretty sure Trevor would tie with Ianto at the second spot.

**Jack **

Cardiff at lunch was busier than ever, but being the director of Torchwood got Jack special treatment, so he and his two favorite blonds didn't have to wait when they got to the Italian restaurant he had chosen for lunch. They were immediately taken to a corner booth, and Jack rushed to sit between Adrian and the young Trevor. He gripped Trevor's hand when he sat, thinking about how little time the boy had left in his first life. Trevor gave Jack a small grin and squeezed his hand back.

"How are things?" Jack asked him, referring to how he was holding up after Finian's death.

Trevor looked down at the electronic menu in front of him. "I'm okay," he said quietly, not meeting Jack's eyes and fidgeting with the edge of the table. It was an obvious lie, and the worst part was that the poor kid had no idea he'd have to live thorough it again.

"Trev, you've got to get better at lying," Adrian said, bending around Jack and looking at Trevor, "Especially to us."

"I know. Wait, why would I need to lie to you guys?" Trevor leaned on Jack's shoulder and yawned. Jack patted his head and gave his hair a quick kiss, glad that Trevor wasn't shy around him anymore.

"Well… isn't that what you young kids do these day? Lie to your elders?" Said Adrian, trying to cover his small slip up. Trevor wasn't the only one who needed to improve his skill at lying. Trevor yawned again, apparently too tired to notice Adrian's off-hand comment.

"Have you been sleeping?" Jack asked, pulling his hand away from Trevor's and wrapping his arm around the boy's shoulders. Trevor only shrugged, which was answer enough for Jack. "You want me to see about getting you some sleeping pills? They could maybe help you to relax so you can sleep."

"No, I'm fine sir," Trevor insisted, pulling up and looking at the menu again. "I want pizza."

Jack sighed. He was worried about Trevor. Both of them, and both were being stubborn about getting help. And there was nothing he could do about it.

**TW—TW—TW **

"How was work today?" Jack asked Trevor, who was picking at his food but not really eating it. Jack was reminded of the way young Trevor had behaved at lunch.

"Fine, they're all uptight 'cause we don't have a lead on the collar case." Trevor replied. "Also, they've noticed that I haven't been giving it the 110% that I usually do with a case." As with his younger self, Trevor didn't meet Jack's eyes, and he absently rubbed the back of his neck. He was hiding something, damnit.

"Why haven't you? Do you already know who the culprit is?"

Trevor looked up at Jack then looked back down at his food with a shrug.

"Is it Brody?" Jack asked.

Trevor dropped his fork with a loud clatter. "I don't… I mean, I can't discuss it Jack." Trevor said as he picked up the fork and walked over to the sink. He grabbed a new fork out of the drawer before coming back to the table and sitting down. "Please stop asking. It's hard enough not to tell you without you constantly trying to figure it out."

Jack nodded. That was enough proof for him. Brody Collins was a part of this whole thing. He'd call Jason later to see what he'd found out.

"So have you heard from Ianto today?" Trevor asked, obviously changing the subject.

Jack shook his head. "Nope. Have you?"

"No." Trevor said with a slight glint in his eye. Lying again, Jack thought, but less distressed. Interesting.

"What?"

"What?" Trevor repeated.

Rolling his eyes, Jack went back to his food. "I don't know. You're the one with the guilty look."

Trevor only shrugged. "Jace is coming to pick me up in a bit. I'm going to spend the night with them, if that's okay with you?"

"You don't need my permission and you know it." Jack grinned, then mocked Trevor's accent by repeating, "If that's okay with you."

Trevor snerked and took another bite of his food. "I love you, Jack. You, Ianto, Adrian, and Jason. The four of you are like my one true love split four ways. Does that make sense?"

Jack nodded. "Sure. What part do I play?"

Trevor rolled his eyes. "My teacher. Jason is the brick wall that protects me, and Adrian is my best friend, with benefits, of course. Ianto… he's the one I strive to be like and strive to understand."

"Interesting. And Brody?" Jack pressed. He knew he shouldn't bring up Brody again, but he couldn't help it.

"He's my nightmare," Trevor stated. Jack watched as Trevor clenched his fists and took a deep breath; he wondered if he had been startled into an accidental admission. When Trevor regained control he stood, announced that he was going to pack a bag, and headed for the room he'd been staying in. He stopped at the doorway and looked back at Jack. "Actually, I'm just going to go to sleep. I'll call Jace and tell him not to come get me."

**Ianto **

Ianto felt sneaky. Kiev hadn't been in as bad a shape as he thought, so it had only taken him three months to get everything under control. Now he was staring out his plane at the city lights of Cardiff. He could see Torchwood Tower in the distance, and he found he couldn't hardly wait to see the look on Jack's face when he surprised him. The only one who knew he was arriving tonight was Trevor. He smiled, feeling genuinely happy for once.

"Sir, we've landed, let me get your luggage for you."

Ianto winked at the beautiful young stewardess. "I'll get it. You just stand there and look lovely while I do," he said, standing up and pulling his carry-on out of the overhead compartment. She blushed. Yeah, he hadn't lost his touch.

**TW—TW—TW**

Jack wasn't in the sitting room where Ianto expected to find him. He took his bags to the room they had shared, and was upset to see that Jack wasn't there either. He sighed and went back out into the main area. Crap, he wanted to surprise him. He looked around, wondering if Jack was somewhere else in the building, or maybe at the school.

He took one more look around and smiled when he realized the door to the rooftop garden was open. He'd let the garden go over the years, but Jack still liked to go up there and drink his scotch every so often. Maybe it was time to clean the place up? He fetched an empty glass, just in case, and was halfway up the stairs to see if Jack was there when he heard his husband's voice.

"Well Jason, I'm just looking at the facts here. Brody is involved with this somehow," Jack said into the receiver. He was silent for a moment. "Yes, I've actually thought of that, and I believe that Trevor is innocent." Silence. "I know he's hiding something, and yes I know it had to be fucking big for Brody to be blackmailing him." Pause, "Well, did he tell you what it was?" Silence. "Of course, how very convenient that he's a man of honor. So much honor that he's been fucking Trevor against his will for over a hundred years." Silence. "No I don't have proof. But I know that something about Brody doesn't sit right."

"Exactly what are you accusing my charge of?" Ianto demanded, making his presence known. His happiness had flown away in the wind. What the hell was Jack doing? And since when did he and Jason talk?

"Jason, I've gotta go, Yan's home." Jack said before ending the call. He turned to Ianto with a bright smile. "Hey beautiful, I wasn't expecting you back yet."

There was no way he was going to fall for the Harkness grin, not this time. "I thought I'd come home to surprise you. And don't try to change the subject, what are you suggesting Brody did?"

Jack held up his hands. "Just hear me out before you get upset. I feel like Brody is involved with the Collar Killer case. Trevor is a homicide detective, and he's suddenly not spending time with Brody. He flinches at his name, and do you know what he told me last night? He said Brody was his 'nightmare'. Something has him spooked."

Ianto started to pace. How could Jack think he'd accept this? "Trevor and Brody have been together since forever, why would he be bringing this up now? Maybe they're not spending time together because Brody broke things off, and he's retaliating. And you're falling for it, Jack. Trevor claims Brody is forcing him, and you're so eager to get into his pants while I'm gone that you not only believe him, you spread his lies to Jason? Without contacting me first?"

"Of course I didn't tell you, I knew you'd react like this!"

"That's because it's bullshit! You're accusing my charge because yours has something against him. And he seems to think he's hit on the one thing I won't tolerate, and it's not going to work."

"Yan, just let me–"

"Don't fucking call me that, I'm the Minster, I should have been told as soon as Trevor brought it up."

"Trevor hasn't accused Brody of anything."

"Oh, _you _made this up? That's so much better."

"No, Trevor said–"

"I don't give a bloody fuck what Trevor said, Jack. That's what I'm getting at here. Brody hasn't done a damn thing wrong, and you're never going to convince me otherwise. The only evidence you have is hearsay from your charge," Ianto shouted, "Could be that Trevor is involved in the case? Could be Brody is the victim, and you won't even consider it."

"I–" Jack began, but Ianto cut him off.

"No, I don't want to hear anymore. Brody Collins is to be left alone. I don't want to see you or Trevor near him. We know Trevor lies, and there all these things he 'can't tell us', and isn't that convenient, that he has an excuse not to answer whenever he doesn't feel like it?"

"Like you did?" Jack snapped, "Was it convenient for you, all those years ago? Was it convenient when you asked Jason to hold you in a cell when Aria died?"

"How _dare _you!" He slammed the scotch glass down on a planter. The shattered glass cut deep into his palm, and he watched the blood drip as it healed.

Jack's face went dead white, as if he realized just how far he had crossed the line. "I didn't mean… I'm sorry. I didn't mean it that way."

"Didn't mean to throw my wife's death in my face, knowing I had to see it happen twice?" Ianto's still-healing hand was shaking, he was so furious.

"Trevor may be dealing with the same thing, though. We know he's overlapped himself. What if he knows something about Brody?"

"Then he should have been honest about it from the start, not that I think there's even the slightest possibility that any of this is true. What do you have against Brody? Is this because you're still angry about him spying on Torchwood all those years ago?"

"This isn't about how I feel about Brody!"

"Is it about me? This is how you're going to punish me for the past 20 years? And you're going to take Brody down at the same time? That's low, even for you, Jack." Jack reached for him, but Ianto pulled away, unwilling to face whatever he'd feel from the man if he allowed contact.

"Of course not! Ianto, I didn't want any of this. I thought things were finally going to get better between us. "

"So did I, Jack. And then you did this." And with that, Ianto turned and left the decaying garden. He marched down to the flat and grabbed his bags from his room thankful that he hadn't bothered to unpack yet. He was so agitated that he ran right in to Trevor on his way to the lift, nearly knocking the man off his feet.

"Minister, is everything okay?" Trevor asked. Oh, he was so fucking innocent, wasn't he? One way or another, he'd been dishonest this whole time. Ianto couldn't believe he'd trusted him as his PA. Who knew how he'd abused the position? How far back did his duplicity go? He'd have to ask Brody what he knew.

"No, it's not. Brody isn't involved in these murders, I don't fucking care what you or Jack say," he snarled, hitting the button to call the lift.

"I didn't–" Trevor began, shock clear on his face.

"Oh? You told Jack he was your nightmare. Why's that, because he's figured you out? You're always so scared we're going to hate you; maybe that's because you're involved!" The lift binged, and Ianto got into before Trevor could reply.

Some fucking homecoming this had turned out to be.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Okay. I like this chapter. I hope you all do too. :) (Tamaar is the best)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood.**

**Warnings: Usual and smut. **

**Rating: MA**

**Adrian **

Adrian looked into the dining hall and watched the young Trevor picking at his food. Could he please just eat? Adrian knew he shouldn't, but he walked across the room anyway. He shooed a browned headed girl out of the seat beside Trevor. Her name was Ryley or Renni… or some shit. He didn't know, nor care much.

"You need to actually eat, Trevor," he snapped.

Trevor looked over at him with wide eyes, a blush slowing forming on his cheeks. "Sir, umm… It's nice to see you out of class. Don't you usually eat with your husband?"

Adrian rolled his eyes. He knew Trevor didn't like for everyone to know they were closer than a student and teacher should be, but it wasn't like they didn't all know anyway. He was sure Trevor was teased for it.

"Yes, well, right now I'm worried about you and the obvious fact that you're not eating."

"I promise I am, sir," Trevor tried. Adrian noticed that all the other students who'd been sitting at the table were slowly leaving. He heard one of them whisper something about a lover's quarrel, but chose to ignore it.

"Don't lie to me."

Trevor's eyes looked around the table and he sighed. "Thank you for the new set of rumors that'll be going around tomorrow. They're getting crazier as the days go on. You know, there's one that doesn't even involve you. Says that I'm a detective or some shit and not really a student. Mallory Pinsky reckons she saw me at the police station when she was giving a statement about Leodine."

"I don't know anything about that, and I'm not concerned about whatever absurd rumors are going around the dorms," Adrian lied. "What I do know is that you barely ate your lunch today, and now you're just picking…"

Adrian felt Jason's rush enter the dining hall and he got sidetracked. He turned to see his husband heading straight toward him with a face that was several degrees shy of happy.

"Oh great. I'm coming up with my own creative rumors for this one. Sims finds out that the student is sleeping with his husband and confronts him in the dining hall," Trevor muttered angrily.

Adrian looked back at Trevor and sighed. "We'll finish this later. Eat your bloody food." He got up and met Jason in the middle of the room, leaving Trevor to his uneaten meal. "What's wrong?"

Jason grabbed his hand and led him out of the dining hall and all the way to their room before speaking. Adrian was starting to wonder if maybe he'd done something, and he was wracking his brain to think of what.

"Jack thinks it's Brody." Jason blurted out as soon as he'd shut their door.

Adrian raised an eyebrow. "He thinks what's Brody?"

"The 'Collar Killer'. He thinks it's Brody."

"Fuck off. He doesn't." Adrian laughed in disbelief. He frowned when Jason didn't laugh and admit that he was kidding. "Well, he's wrong. It… couldn't be."

"Adrian I know he's pretty, but… pretty people can be bad too."

"Shut up. Why are you so mean to me about my stupid crush on him? Was I mean to you when you had that thing for… god, I can't remember that actor's name, the sparkling–"

Jason put his hand up to stop Adrian from continuing. "You will hold your tongue. We agreed never to speak of that."

"No, _you_ agreed, I'm speaking of it right now. At least Brody's hot. That guy…."

"Not discussing it, and not the point." Jason, as usual, refused to be diverted.

Adrian nodded. This wasn't the time to decide which of them had better taste in men, but Adrian… god he couldn't believe that it was Brody, and it had always been his way to change the subject quickly if it wasn't something he wanted to discuss. He looked down at his hands. He'd nearly slept with Brody fifteen years before, but he'd stopped it in the middle. There was something off about the way Brody had held him. He had felt like a possession, not like Brody's equal, and it had given Adrian a bit of a flashback to his first life in Paris, and the man who had kept him there. He couldn't even recall the man's face now of course, but it didn't matter. He'd pushed Brody away. He practically ran from the room, and Brody never mentioned it, and Adrian hadn't either. Even though the flashback hadn't been Brody's fault, Adrian had avoided telling his lover for fear of what he might have done to Brody.

"Mon amour, it's just a theory, okay? No proof yet."

"We shouldn't tell Ianto until we have proof," Adrian urged. "He won't believe it any more than I did. Less."

"He already knows. I was talking to Jack on the phone and he overheard us. I heard him in the background."

"Oh fuck, I need to go to him then. He's going to need to talk this through." Adrian sighed and headed toward the door. Jason grabbed him.

"No, Jack'll handle it. You can see him tomorrow. I'm not letting you leave this building without me or Jack."

"What about Ianto?"

"No… Me or Jack." Jason repeated. "Ianto's been a right prick these last two decades."

"So you think he'll murder me?"

Jason shrugged and pulled Adrian toward the bed. "Let's call it an early night."

**Ianto **

Brody was sitting in his living room sipping on a beer when Ianto let himself in with his key and plopped beside him on the couch. Brody looked over at him and set his beer down on the coffee table. "I didn't know you were back in town?"

Ianto looked over at him. No matter how many years passed, no matter how much older Brody appeared, Ianto always saw him as the frightened boy he'd been when they first met. He stretched his hand out and caressed Brody's cheek. "It was a surprise."

"For me?" Brody asked in a voice far more hopeful than Ianto was comfortable with. He considered lying, but it would only cause Brody more heartache in the end.

"For my husband."

Brody rolled his eyes and looked back at the TV, pulling away from Ianto's touch. "Of course. Well, he's not here."

"I didn't… Brody, can we please, for once, not fight about Jack?"

Brody shrugged. "You're the boss," he spat, grabbing his beer and taking a sip.

Ianto scooted closer to his charge. "What's been going on between you and Trevor?"

"Nothing. Why? What did he say?" Brody asked. He didn't seem nervous or uncomfortable, he seemed uninterested.

"Nothing… It was Jack, he thinks…" Ianto began, but he couldn't finish the thought. "It doesn't matter. You mind if I stay with you for a bit?"

"You're always welcome here, you know that. Would you like a beer?" Brody asked. He sounded excited now. He never stayed angry with Ianto for long. In fact, he never stayed anything for long; his unpredictable moods were legendary.

Ianto nodded. "Sure, why not."

Brody got up off the couch and disappeared into the kitchen. Ianto got up and went to look at a few pictures Brody had hanging on his wall. There was one of him and Trevor. It was obvious the two were in bed, and neither of them had a shirt on. Brody had his arm tight around Trevor's neck and was kissing his cheek. Trevor was smiling, but… did it meet his eyes? Was it a forced smile, or was he genuinely happy?

"We're fighting. Of course, when are we not?" Brody said, gesturing toward the photo as he came back into the room and handed Ianto a beer. Ianto took a sip. "I suppose it's my fault."

"What did you do?" Ianto asked.

Brody sighed and pulled at his shirt. "I'd rather not talk about it. He'll forgive me eventually. In time…"

"I'm sure he will," agreed Ianto.

"Enough about me." Brody's hazel eyes twinkled and his mouth stretched into a smile. "Why don't you take a seat and let me take care of you? You seem rather tense."

"I am," Ianto admitted. He settled back on the couch. Brody knelt in front of him and nudged Ianto's knees apart. Ianto smiled and took another sip of his beer. It was rather nice the way Brody always knew what Ianto needed and made sure he got it, and he especially appreciated it tonight.

Brody's fingers quickly undid Ianto's trousers. Ianto took another sip of his beverage. "Whatcha doing?" he asked with raised eyebrows.

"Taking care of you, sir," Brody replied. Ianto put his beer on the side table, letting out a small gasp when Brody pulled his cock free and wasted no time taking it into his mouth.

"Fuck, I love you," Ianto moaned. He letting his head fall languidly back onto the couch and raked his fingers through Brody's hair. Brody's tongue massaged Ianto's cock beautifully, and Ianto could feel his stress melting away. "You're so good to me."

Brody hummed around Ianto, causing Ianto to buck up. Brody took him deep and gripped his hips. Ianto gave himself over to the pleasure. He was so close his body was trembling when, to his disappointment, Brody pulled away.

"I need you to take me," Brody begged, leaning his head against Ianto's thigh and looking up at him with undisguised longing.

"You're wearing far too many clothes for me to take you," Ianto responded, looking at Brody hungrily. Brody rolled his eyes and stood up. Ianto bit his lip as he watched his charge fully undress. "You're very beautiful." Brody's whole body seemed to blush.

"Thanks," he called over his shoulder as he went into the bedroom.

"And your ass is perfect," Ianto called.

"I know." Brody came back into the living room, smiling and holding a bottle of lube. He poured a good portion of it onto his palm before applying it to Ianto. He handed the lube to Ianto and turned around.

"Yum," Ianto leered, bending forward and kissing the smooth cheeks Brody had presented him with.

"Ahh, I didn't even have to ask for you to kiss my ass," Brody teased.

Ianto gave him a gentle spank before pouring a bit on lube on to his fingers and using to gently prepare his charge. Brody was trembling, and Ianto gently massaged his lower back. "You think you're ready?" Ianto breathed against his skin.

"Yes," Brody replied. Ianto removed his fingers and put his hands on the man's hips as Brody slowly lowered himself. "Fuck," Brody groaned. "You're the only one I let do this, you know."

Ianto ran his hands soothingly up and down Brody's sides. "I didn't know that."

When Brody had taken Ianto all the way, he leaned his back against Ianto's chest. Ianto wrapped his arms around him and gently kissed his neck.

"I only want to belong to you," Brody professed, turning his head and looking down into Ianto's eyes. Ianto saw a deep passion there, and a possible storm brewing.

Ianto didn't know how to reply, so instead he just held Brody's gaze and encouraged the man to move.

**TW—TW—TW**

Brody finally passed out after their third round and was lying peacefully, flat on his stomach with only a thin sheet covering him. Ianto pressed a kiss to his shoulder and slipped out of the bed. This isn't how he'd envisioned spending his first day back in Cardiff. Well, that was a lie. It was exactly what he'd been hoping for, except he'd thought he'd be in his flat and with Jack.

The kitchen in Brody's house was quite small, but it had a coffee maker and all of Ianto's favorite flavors. He started it brewing, then looked around the room for a mug. The first cupboard had plates, the second had bowls, and finally the third had mugs and cups. He pulled one down then started to look through the drawers for a spoon. He opened the drawer closest to the coffee maker and froze.

A tattoo gun. He closed the drawer. It didn't mean anything, it wasn't proof. Brody had always been interested in tattoos, ever since he'd seen Ianto's. It didn't mean that Jack was right. Because Jack was wrong, he had to be… no way was Brody a murderer. No fucking way.

He switched the coffee maker off and put the mug away, then went back to Brody's bed. He snuggled close to him and wrapped his arms tight around him. He couldn't handle it if it was true.

**Jack **

Trevor had collapsed in sobbing heap outside his bedroom door after Ianto's angry and hurtful words. Jack stood for a moment in complete shock. What the fuck had just happened, anyway? Ianto had come home to surprise him and then… Fuck it all to hell.

Jack walked to Trevor and pulled him to his feet. "Come on beautiful, he didn't mean it. I know you're not to blame for any of this." Trevor only let out a gentle sniffle in response. Jack walked them both toward Trevor's bedroom and helped Trevor into the bed. He lay down beside him and held him close. Trevor started a new round of weeping, and shook until Jack thought his thin frame might come apart. "Shh… I've got you." Jack held the man and murmured soothingly until his shuddering subsided.

"I have to talk to myself tomorrow," Trevor said suddenly. Jack had been half asleep himself, and was so startled he nearly fell off the bed. Trevor snickered. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to frighten you with my whisper."

Jack chuckled at himself. "I thought you were asleep. So what do you need to talk to young you about?"

"Stuff."

"You're so informative these days," Jack observed sarcastically, pulling Trevor back into his arms and laying his head on the pillow.

Trevor burrowed his head against the curve of Jack's neck. "I'm sorry. I know you two were just now getting back to being… happy. And I've ruined it."

Jack kissed Trevor's forehead. "No, it's my fault, not yours. I'll talk with him tomorrow, and we'll work it out."

Jack prayed he was telling Trevor the truth.

**TW—TW—TW **

Jack, having given up hope of anyone answering the door, had started hunting for a spare key when Brody opened it.

"He's still asleep." Brody rumbled, leaning against his door frame and making it clear that Jack wasn't going to be invited in.

Jack put on his best smile. "Oh, that's okay. I can wait. I'm not leaving till I talk to him though." Brody only frowned. Jack took a step forward and grabbed his hand. "What happened to us Brody? Did you ever really care for me? Or did you just use me to get back at him?"

"Aren't you clever." Brody taunted, pulling his hand away.

Jack nodded. Once he'd really looked at Brody's behavior over the years, it had become obvious. Brody had played him from the beginning, hoping to hurt Ianto for breaking things off when Brody went to work for Torchwood. That was why Ianto had reminded Jack of Brody when he'd finally met him years later, because Brody had mimicked Ianto's behavior, knowing Jack would fall in love with him.

"You've got him so fooled, don't you? He doesn't realize how messed up you are," Jack said, aggressively leaning his face toward Brody's. "How do you think he's going to react when he finds out? You think he'll forgive you? Because he won't, Brody. Not for murdering innocent people."

"I haven't killed anyone, Harkness, so fuck off."

Jack wanted to punch him, but he knew that would only make it worse, so he began to back off.

Brody smirked. "Tell Trevor I'll see him soon." Jack's stomach turned at the sight of Brody's feral grin.

Coherent thought left Jack at that moment, and he surged forward, sending Brody back into his house at a run. Jack was too quick for him, though, and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. "You come anywhere near him and I'll relocate you so fast you won't even know what hit you!" Jack threatened.

"Jack! Get the fuck away from him now!" Ianto yelled.

Fuck. "Yan. Didn't mean to wake you; I was just coming to have a chat."

"No he wasn't, he's threating me. Says I raped Trevor. I'd never do that, I love him," Brody said, pulling away from Jack and going to stand behind Ianto.

"He's lying, Yan. I didn't tell him that. He basically just admitted to it, though!" Jack growled.

"Brody, go to your room so I can have a talk with my husband."

"Yes sir," Brody said with his voice full of false innocence. It made Jack sick to think Ianto was fooled.

"Oh, please tell me you're not falling for his shit" Jack whispered harshly, getting closer to Ianto and looking into his eyes.

"I want you to leave now. I told you to stay away from him." Ianto said calmly, looking down at his hands. Jack gripped his shoulders.

"I'm so sorry Yan. I know this is hard for you…"

"You have no proof, Jack. He's not involved in this," Ianto challenged. "Now get the fuck out." He looked up at Jack with tears of anger forming in his eyes. Jack knew Ianto now believed him, he just wasn't ready to accept it yet.

"Come home with me and we'll talk this through," Jack whispered leaning forward and brushing his lips against Ianto's cheek.

"No. I don't want you involved in this anymore. I… Just go."

Jack pulled away. He realized Ianto didn't want to have another reason to hate him, and if he ended Brody, Ianto would. But if Ianto did it… then Ianto would have another reason to hate himself. Jack couldn't bear that either. "You can't do this alone."

Ianto shook his head. "Fucking leave, Jack. Just fucking leave!"

"I love you," Jack insisted. His phone rang as he reached for the door, and he paused, pulling it from his pocket and answering it. "Harkness."

"Hey, it's Adrian. Sorry to interrupt, but there was another murder last night. He… snuck out…"

"Who?"

"Not anyone you've met before, I don't think."

"What's the time of death?"

"I don't have any real details," Adrian admitted, "Trevor's at work, isn't he? He'll know more."

"Yeah, I'll head down there. Thanks Adrian." Jack ended the call and looked up at Ianto.

"Another murder?" Ianto asked, running his fingers through his hair.

Jack nodded.

"Well that proves it then. Brody was with me all night."

"No, Yan. It doesn't. He obviously has a partner."

Ianto frowned. "I'll meet you at the station. Remind your charge that I'm the Minister, and that I require him to answer all my questions whether he's upset with me or not."

"Fine," Jack bit out. He walked out the door, leaving Ianto in the murder's living room. It was the last thing he wanted to do, but he had no choice.

**TW—TW—TW**

"Hey." Jack announced himself knocking on Trevor's office door. "The Minister," he began, rolling his eyes. "Has requested an update on the murders. And he'd like me to remind you that he's the 'Minister' and you have to answer all his questions."

Trevor nodded but didn't look up from his desk. "Of course, sir."

"I don't know how you're coping with all this, Trevor, but I'm so proud of you. You're a stronger man than I, and I'm pretty sure you're wiser as well."

Trevor's head dropped to the desk, but not before Jack saw the tears streaking down his cheeks. Jack came the rest of the way into the office and shut the door. He knelt beside Trevor and ran his hand over his charge's back. "I'm sorry, Jack. I don't know why I keep crying like a baby."

"Cause you're under a lot of stress. It's okay, there's no shame in it," Jack assured him.

**Trevor **

"So there are two, then?" Ianto asked, "But only one leaves behind DNA evidence?"

Trevor nodded. "Yes."

"And Brody's not a match for it."

"No," Trevor replied, massaging the back of his neck. He'd already answered these questions.

"What about the tattoo? Does it work like… I mean, is it like hand writing? Like a special way it's done to prove that the same person is doing the tattooing?"

"I'm a detective, Minister, not a tattoo specialist," Trevor snapped. He wasn't really upset at Ianto, he'd been expecting it. He'd known Ianto would be the first to hate him, and he knew that soon enough they all would. Still, it hurt.

"Do you know who's doing this?" questioned Ianto.

"Only one of them."

Ianto narrowed his eyes. "It's not Brody. You and Jack are wrong."

Trevor looked down at his desk. "Listen, I have a meeting at the school. So…"

"No. I'm the Minister, I say when we're done," Ianto countered, pulling Trevor's tablet off the desk and looking through the pictures again. "Is there a way to tell if each tattoo was done by the same gun?"

"Again, you'd need to talk to forensics."

The tablet clattered onto the desk when Ianto dropped it with a sharp huff. "Fine we're done. And I think perhaps I should find a new PA, since you're so caught up in this."

"Yes, Minister," Trevor said formally, standing up. He hadn't known it was coming, but it wasn't exactly a surprise. "Would you like me to get you a coffee before you leave?"

Ianto shook his head and headed out the door without another word.

"Ready to go?" Jack asked, sticking his head into the office moments later. Trevor nodded.

**TW—TW—TW **

Trevor arrived in Adrian's office to find his younger self already there. In this moment, seeing himself and remembering what he had felt, everything seemed suddenly more real, like some twisted form of déjà-vu where he _knew_ he had seen this before. Still, he smiled slightly when he heard his younger self gasp in surprise at seeing him. He remembered the fear and wonder he had felt.

"Yeah, I know it's shocking," Trevor said lightly, quirking his lips into a wry smile.

"You're me…" The young Trevor stammered, "And you're not any older."

Trevor only nodded. "Yes. Have a seat because… we need to talk."

The younger boy sat down behind Adrian's desk. "Okay…?"

Trevor sighed. He already knew what to say, but this wasn't going to be fun.

**Jason **

"What do you think he's telling him?" Jason asked. He, Jack, and Adrian were waiting outside Adrian's office while Trevor was talking to Trevor. Jason was reminded of the days with Ianto and Little Ianto, and it made him very uncomfortable, and a little unhappy that Jack and Adrian didn't appear to be taking it seriously.

"Rugby scores?" Jack guessed.

Adrian let out a giggle. "Lottery numbers?"

"And they call me an asshole," Jason grunted.

The door opened and both Trevors came out. The first one threw himself Adrian and buried himself in his arms. "Hey, it's okay," Adrian said against the boy's hair.

The other Trevor leaned against the wall and sighed. "You'll be okay. See, living proof right here."

The Trevor holding Adrian, the younger, Jason thought, shook his head and choked back tears. Adrian looked up at the Trevor leaning against the wall with an expression Jason couldn't interpret. "Come on, let's go get something to eat," he said, pulling young Trevor down the hall.

"Not alone," Jack said, following them. Jason stayed and watched the older Trevor sink to the floor. He clearly needed to escape from his own thoughts for a while, and Jason knew just the thing.

He walked forward and pulled him back up looking him in the eye. "Want to go to my play room?"

Trevor nodded.

Jason grabbed his hand and walked him toward his office. They both remained quiet until they reached the closet in Jason's office that wasn't really a closet.

"Give me control and I'll make you forget," Jason promised, "Once we go into that room, it's just me and you, there's nothing else and the only worry you have is following my directions. Is that what you want?" Jason turned Trevor toward him and looked into his eyes.

"Please." Trevor nodded.

Jason opened the door and ushered Trevor in. He stopped him just inside the door. "Strip."

Trevor obeyed quickly and was soon standing fully exposed in front of Jason. Jason raised his eyebrows in confusion. Usually Trevor would run, he'd fight and he wouldn't follow any orders and he'd laugh the whole time until Jason caught him and bent him over the varies things in the room, beating his ass with his hand, or a paddle, and on one occasion a nice cane, (Trevor had kicked him in the balls), until the Welshman was repeating a mantra of 'I'm yours sir, please take me', and Jason would.

Jason caressed Trevor's face before running his hand down the man's chest. "Why are you trembling?"

Trevor shook his head and turned away. Jason changed his plan; this time he'd treat Trevor delicately, just as he'd treat Adrian. He grabbed the boy's wrist and led him to a swing. He helped him into it, securing his wrists and ankles then leaning down and kissing him deeply. He pulled away and looked into Trevor's eyes and gasped. Trevor was crying.

"I'm so sorry…"

Jason got a sinking feeling in his stomach. "Why?"

Trevor turned his head away and looked toward the wall. "Adrian," he whimpered.

Jason ran, already pulling his phone from his pocket. He barely heard Trevor screaming to be let out. Adrian's phone went to voice mail.


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Chapter 6. See we didn't make you wait too long. You should thank Taamar. :) She's awesome. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood. (sadness)**

**Rating: MA**

**Warnings: Non-con (Trevor's section). And usual stuff. **

**Adrian**

"Which of us is better in bed?" Jack asked suddenly as he, Adrian, and Trevor walked toward a nearby café. Adrian realized that the man was only asking to break the tension in the air, but he was curious to know the answer. Trevor was the only one who could know.

Unfortunately, the boy only shrugged.

"Come on," Jack pressed, "You know we won't get mad. And by 'we', I mean Adrian. He's not a sore loser." Adrian just shook his head.

Trevor stopped and looked at Jack. "It depends on what I want. You're both good, just in different ways. Now can we just go eat?"

It was unnerving not knowing why the younger Trevor was so upset. Adrian could think of several possible reasons for Trevor's mood. Having met his older self, the boy surely knew that he'd be relocated soon, and that he'd have to live through Finian's murder again without being able to stop it. And perhaps older Trevor had passed on his fear of everyone hating him, or some tidbit of future knowledge. Or it could be for a reason Adrian didn't know yet, and that thought was the most frightening of all.

"So what do you want to eat?" Jack asked Trevor as soon as they were seated at a small table in the café.

"Can't," is all Trevor said in reply, putting his head in his hands.

"Not even five minutes ago you snapped at me because you just wanted to get here and eat," Jack grumbled. Trevor shrugged.

Adrian needed a breather, and he wanted to give Jack a chance to speak with his charge privately, so he stood up to go to the restroom.

"Where are you going?" Jack asked.

"To wash up," Adrian said, rolling his eyes. God, he couldn't even go to the loo without being questioned. It was like being in prison.

Adrian was washing his hands when, with a flash of blindingly bright light, he saw someone form behind him. There, reflected in the mirror, was a man he'd hoped never to see again. Max. Even after a century, Adrian still reacted to him with revulsion. Even his rush felt… soiled. He wished he'd told Jason he loved him before leaving the school not even fifteen minutes before. If he couldn't escape, who knew how long it would be until they found each other in time?

Adrian's phone vibrated in his pocket, and he pulled it out, hoping it was the rescue he needed. He saw with relief that it was Jason's image on the phone. If he could just answer it–

Adrian let out a gasp and dropped the phone when Max wrapped an arm around his waist and hauled him close. "I've been waiting so long for this," Max sneered. Then Adrian felt an odd pulling sensation, and they were gone.

**Jason **

Jason was running, fear churning in his gut. He could feel an empty spot in his heart and, though he knew it was in vain, he was praying he wasn't too late.

Jason rushed to Adrian's favorite place to eat, a small café just outside the school; he went there at least three times a week, and it was the most likely place for him to take Trevor and Jack. Jason pushed the door the eatery open and saw Jack sitting with Trevor, but no Adrian.

The loo. He had to be in the loo. Jason rushed to the small bathroom in the back of the café. Adrian's phone was lying in the middle of the floor. Jason grabbed it and crumpled to the ground.

"No," he said in disbelief and despair, barely holding in tears. "No!" he screamed. His tears broke free, and he held the phone to his chest. He knew he needed to pull himself together, he was wasting precious time, he needed to find Adrian before– he let out another screaming sob and collapsed further into himself.

"Oh fuck." Jason could hear Jack's voice, but it sounded very far away. "I saw him go in here… I was watching the door. There's no window; they have to be teleporting the victims. We'll find him, Jace." Jason heard the beeping of Jack's phone. "Tabby, I need you to come down…"

Jason didn't listen any further, he got up off the floor and walked out of the bathroom. The whole restaurant was looking at him with wide eyes; everyone except Trevor, who was looking down at the table and crying silent tears. _He knew_, Jason thought. _He must have told himself._ Jason marched forward and pulled the boy out of his seat. "Where the fuck is he?" he demanded, shaking the boy.

"I don't–" Trevor began. Jason picked him up by his shirt and slammed him into the counter.

"Where the fuck is he!" Jason repeated. "I know he told you. I know he did!" He banged the young man against the counter with every syllable.

"Jason, let him go!" Jack commanded angrily, pulling Jason away from his charge and shoving him to the other side of the café. Jason watched as Jack wrapped his arms around Trevor, protecting the man who had let Adrian be abducted.

"You know he knows, Jack! The…" Jason paused and looked around. Most of the patrons had slipped outside. "The other one told him!"

"He had no choice, Jason!"

Jason wrapped his arms around himself and closed his eyes. He needed to think, he couldn't screw up here. Adrian's life, his life, depended on it. "Can you track the teleportation?" he asked, trying to keep his voice level.

"We're going to try."

Jason opened his eyes. "Well, I can't just sit here… so I'm going to try and find him. I'll be able to sense him… bring him back," he replied before walking out of the café. He'd check every residence in Cardiff for his lover until he found him.

**Trevor**

He'd stopped screaming for Jason when he'd heard the office door shut. There was really no use. He hoped Jack would come looking for him soon. He leaned his head back and tried to stay calm; at least he had been left in a comfortable position. It could have been _much_ worse. But no matter how hard he tried to remain calm, his mind kept drifting to Adrian, and he just couldn't. He could only sob. When he ran out of tears, he let his eyes close and drifted into an uneasy sleep.

When he woke he was certain he was in the middle of a nightmare. Brody was standing before him. "Get the fuck away from me," Trevor snarled, knowing it would do no good.

"Now, now. You shouldn't speak to me like that, little whore. I'm not the one who left you all tied up," Brody leered, running his hand over Trevor's exposed inner thigh. Trevor shivered.

"Brody… we can work this out. Please, just untie me and I'll help to clear you of any blame…"

Brody slapped the thigh he'd just been caressing. "I don't need your help clearing my name. I need you to accept that you're mine."

"Never!"

Brody sighed. "Oh Trevor… you should feel lucky. I'd have given anything to belong to someone, but no one loved me like I love you. I've accepted that now."

"Ianto loves you, Brody…" Trevor started only to have his other thigh slapped.

"I don't want his name to pass your lips, understand me?"

"I don't take orders from you!" Trevor shouted. He realized a moment too late that perhaps now wasn't a good time to antagonize Brody; he didn't exactly have the upper hand in this situation.

Brody walked away and pulled a squirt bottle of lube off of one of the shelves in the room. "You should be grateful I love you, Trevor, because if I didn't I'd be fucking you dry."

Trevor closed his eyes and tried to pretend he was somewhere else as Brody's fingers breached him. "Come on, my love, look at me," Brody breathed. Trevor looked up into his nightmare's hazel eyes. "There he is, so beautiful and all mine."

"I'm not yours," Trevor muttered.

Brody ignored him, he was too focused on his task.

"Three months was too long to be without you, little whore." Brody whispered lovingly against Trevor's cheek when he had finished. Trevor opted not to reply. Brody released his ankles and put Trevor's pants back on him. "You know they all hate you now? I'm the only person you have left, maybe you should consider being nicer to me?"

"Fuck off."

Brody slapped him across the face. "You'll learn to behave one way or another, make it easier on yourself and don't be a little bitch!"

Trevor whimpered when Brody hastily undid his wrists and pulled him away from the swing. He tried to struggle, to run, but his body was stiff after being restrained, and he could barely stand. He was humiliated to find himself collapsing into Brody's arms.

"That's right, you're all mine now, my love," Brody murmured tenderly into Trevor's hair. Trevor looked away and wished he were anywhere else in the world. Then he felt himself transported and wished, for just an instant, that he had been more specific.

**Ianto **

**_1925_**

_"Mia's really nice, she'll take good care of you… and she'll train you well," Ianto said, looking over at the boy he'd taken from a sorry excuse of an orphanage. He'd been concerned when the seeker had located him there; he knew some orphans had trouble connecting with people, but Brody didn't seem any more surly than any other adolescent boy. Not to him, at least._

_ Brody only shrugged._

_"Brody… did you, I mean, Jerry said…" Ianto began but stopped. Mia wasn't the first person Ianto had assigned as Brody's guardian. Jerry had called after only having Brody for three days. Apparently, Jerry and Brody 'weren't a good fit'. Ianto hoped Mia would be the kick in the ass the kid needed._

_"He didn't like me," Brody said sullenly, kicking the dust under his feet._

_Ianto stopped and turned Brody toward him. "Did he hurt you?" Brody still had evidence of the orphanage on his face._

_"No," the kid replied._

_"Well, he was kinda vague on the details… I'm just making sure."_

_Ianto sighed when Brody didn't seem to want to talk anymore, and led him the rest of the way to Mia's front door. She was his third and final option, and the other hadn't lasted any longer than Jerry; if this didn't work, he'd take Brody under his own wing. He just didn't really feel up to that because he already had a lot on his plate. Being the Rift Leader of Cardiff and campaigning for the Minister position was exhausting._

_Mia smiled when she opened the door, all charm as usual. "Hi there! Well, ain't you just the cutest thing!"_

_"What's with the stupid accent?" Brody asked rudely. _

_Mia smiled right through it. "It's Texan. Although really it's just a southern United States accent. I mean it's not like people from Alabama have a different accent. Well maybe a bit, but not much. Now Louisiana… that's a state all it's own. French, you know, they–" _

_Ianto coughed. Mia was getting off track._

_"Alright sugar, let's get you in and I'll show you to your new room." Mia grinned at Brody and led him inside with a hand on his back. Ianto followed._

**_TW—TW—TW_**

_It wasn't even forty-eight hours later when Ianto found himself back at Mia's. Gone was her southern charm and what remained was a hellish dragon, all red-faced and wild-haired._

_"That boy cannot be tamed, David," she announced as she shoved Brody out the door at Ianto and tossed the bag with his things after him. And with that, Ianto found himself with a new charge._

**Present Day**

Ianto smiled at Brody, who was sitting next to him on the couch. "You want me to make some coffee?"

"No," said Brody, scooting closer to Ianto. "I just want to enjoy your company." Ianto allowed Brody to snuggle close, and he wrapped a protective arm around his charge.

"What did you do while I was at the station?" Ianto asked. He hadn't been gone long.

"Nothing, a little cleaning. Changed the bed sheets," Brody replied. Ianto looked around the mess of a living room and tried not to laugh. It didn't look like Brody ever cleaned. "Have they got any leads with the case?"

"Nope," Ianto whispered, running his fingers though Brody's hair. The only lead they had was Brody… and it wasn't true. At least that's what Ianto kept telling himself, what he needed to believe. "Don't you have a job?"

"Yeah, I'm off today. I hate it, but the job I'd really like is taken…"

"What job would you really like?"

Brody turned slightly and looked up at Ianto. "Just to serve you."

It wasn't a bad idea. The others couldn't object to the Minister hiring whomever he wanted, and he could keep Brody close at all times and eventually clear his name. "You're in luck. I've recently fired my PA."

Brody's face lit up. "Yeah? Can I be?"

Ianto nodded, bending and giving Brody a gentle kiss just as his phone began to ring. Crazy Frog was still the world's most annoying song. Ianto sighed, Jack must've changed his ringtone when they'd seen each other at the station.

"Jones," Ianto answered shortly.

"Yan… I need you to come to the school."

Jack's voice was tight, overly controlled. Ianto could tell something was wrong. "Was there another murder?"

"No, Ianto… Just come to the school and meet me in Jason's office."

"What happened Jack? I'm not coming till I know why."

Ianto heard Jack sigh deeply on the other end of the phone. "Adrian's been taken."

**TW—TW—TW**

Ianto walked quickly down the hall toward Jason's office with Brody's hand firmly clasped in his. Adrian's abduction would prove to them that Brody was innocent; he'd never take Adrian away from them. Brody was fond of Adrian, and Ianto was pretty sure they'd done it a few times.

"Brody…" Ianto paused awkwardly. He stopped in the hall and turned to face Brody. He was unsure of what to say, or even if he wanted to bring it up, but he plowed forward. "You'd tell me if, well, if you were being forced to do things? " He took a deep breath and continued," I mean, even if there's some secret, you can tell me and I'll forgive you. So if Trevor's been blackmailing you, or anything, you can tell me, yeah? I'm here for you, and I'll make things better."

"Minister, I'm not keeping anything from you. I promise. Thinking that you might believe Jack… well, it hurts."

Ianto shook his head and pulled Brody closer. "No. I don't think you intentionally hurt anyone."

"I haven't hurt anyone, intentionally or otherwise."

"I believe you." He squeezed Brody's hand, and they continued down the hall. Ianto entered Jason's office like he owned the place and was surprised to only find Jack and Trevor. "Where's Jason?"

"Tearing Cardiff apart searching for his lover," Jack replied.

Ianto turned his gaze to Trevor and noticed the boy had a fat lip. Must be the young one then, their Trevor would have healed by now. "Why are you in here?"

"I…" Trevor began.

"I don't want him involved in this. Take him somewhere else. I'll put him in a cell if I have to, Jack."

"Yan, he didn't…" Jack began.

Ianto held up his hand. "He knows too much as it is. I want him out, and I forbid you to discuss this case with him any further. Is that understood?"

Jack looked like he was going to argue but gave in and sent Trevor to his dorm. "And what about this one?" Jack sneered toward Brody as soon as Trevor had left the room.

"He's my new PA. He stays with me, and you will treat him respectfully. Now spill."

"Fine," Jack spat. Ianto could see his jaw tighten, but he continued, "Right after the older Trevor had a talk with the young one in Adrian's office–" Jack began.

"You authorized that without consulting me?" Ianto snapped.

"Yes." Jack replied simply, "Anyway the younger one was upset when he came out, so Adrian and I took him to that café around the corner… you know the one we went to right before you left Cardiff… remember how we held hands like teenagers…"

"You're getting off topic." Ianto did remember; they'd shared a fizzy drink, and he'd thought things were getting better.

"So, we get there, we order, Adrian went to the loo… and never came out. He was teleported to a nearby alley and then taken by foot somewhere else. I've got a team on it, they are looking at CCTV footage, but so far they've haven't managed to get a glimpse of Adrian or his abductor. This person has done his research, he knows where all the blind spots are."

"Where's the older Trevor?" Ianto asked.

"I don't know, he stayed behind with Jason… and I guess he told Jason that Adrian was being taken; Jason rushed into the restaurant in a panic," Jack replied.

"Then no one was with Trevor? Have you tried his phone?"

Jack narrowed his eyes at the implication and opened his mobile. He pressed a few buttons then put it to his ear. The ringing started behind Ianto. He turned from his place in Jason's chair and stared at the door to Jason's playroom. Jack tried the handle and, finding it locked, kicked the door in and entered. A moment later he came out and calmly placed Trevor's cell phone, jeans, and t-shirt on the desk. Ianto blinked. Trevor had been taken or he'd made it to appear that way.

Jack lunged at Brody. "You tell me where my charge is now or I'll cut you up and find a weevil to feed you to."

"Harkness! Sit down!" Ianto commanded.

Jack's body went rigid, and he pulled away from Brody. Jack turned back to look at him, and Ianto nearly flinched from the pain he saw there. They were still staring at each other when the door to the office opened and Jason walked in. When he saw the look on Jason's face his priorities shifted; more than anything else at the moment, he had to take care of his guardian.

"I've checked every building within mile of the teleport point… unless they've got him behind lead, he's gone. I couldn't feel him."

Ianto wrapped his arms around Jason and pulled him close. "We'll find him, Jace. I promise you."

Jason only sobbed onto Ianto's shoulder.

**Jack **

The young Trevor was sitting on his bed in the dorm with his arms around his knees when Jack found him. Jack sat beside him and kissed the top of his head. "This isn't your fault."

"I'm going to relocate soon…"

"Yeah," Jack agreed.

"He said it'd be nearly five years till I got to see you again."

"Yeah."

"You won't even know me."

"I'll learn." Jack pulled Trevor's arm away from his knee and turned him. "I love you. And I'm very protective of you, and it only took about a week knowing you for me to realize that. So you keep that thought with you, and you'll be fine."

"I miss him already," Trevor sobbed.

"Me too." Jack pushed Trevor back onto the bed and he got next to him spooning him and holding him close. "Why don't you stay with me for a while…"

"Till the end, you mean? Headmaster Sims probably doesn't want me to stay here, anyway."

"He's hurting, he doesn't blame you," Jack assured him.

"Minister seems to hate me suddenly too…"

"Come on pack up your stuff and let's head to Torchwood." Jack said getting up and changing the subject at the same time. The Minister wasn't too happy with Jack at the moment either. Especially since he was calling him 'Harkness'.

**TW—TW—TW**

The young Trevor had been to Torchwood many times, but he'd never been in Jack and Ianto's flat. Jack smiled at his young charge as he looked around, clearly impressed and a bit overwhelmed. He dropped his duffle and went to the far window to look over the city. Jack went up and snaked him arms around Trevor's middle. "Look, Trevor, everything the light touches is your kingdom," Jack teased, increasing his grip and hoping Trevor couldn't feel his worry. He backed up when Trevor stiffened. Of course he could feel his worry. Any Rift Child who touched him right now would feel it.

"I'll save him, Jack. I've got over a century to figure it out…" Trevor vowed. Jack wrapped his arms back around Trevor and kissed his cheek. He was glad the boy couldn't read his mind, because Jack wasn't only worried about Adrian, but the about older Trevor as well. Ianto had made it clear that the young Trevor wasn't to know that his older self was missing. Jack wasn't sure if it was to protect the boy or because Ianto didn't trust him. The way Ianto had been lately, either was possible.

Jack kissed Trevor's neck and tried to hold back tears that were threatening. How long did he have till his charge was pulled from him, just like so many others had been in the past? "I love you Trevor. Always remember that. I don't care if you think the whole world hates you… never believe that I could. 'Cause it's unconditional."

Trevor nodded, his eyes closing and his body relaxing into Jack's arms. Jack finally understood why Ianto was behaving the way he was about the whole Brody situation. Brody was Ianto's charge, and Jack realized that he must love him just like Jack loved Trevor. And in that moment of insight, he understood Jason a bit better, too.

The ding of the elevator brought the guardian and charge out of their silence. Jack turned, and was surprised to see Ianto emerge from the lift. "Sorry if I'm interrupting… I can come back."

"No, Minister, I was just going to bed." Trevor announced, retrieving his duffle and looking around. "Which room is the guest?"

Jack pointed to the guest room closest to his. "Right there, and I'll be in this room," Jack pointed toward his and Ianto's room, "if you need anything."

Trevor gave a quick thank you and good night before rushing off to bed. Jack turned to see Ianto heading toward the scotch. Jack followed.

"What brings you here, Minister?" he asked, taking a tumbler and pouring himself some of the amber liquid.

"Jack," Ianto began, his voice cracking, "I think the last thing I said to Adrian was 'fuck off'." Jack forgot his anger at Ianto and placed both of their glasses back onto the bar.

He pulled Ianto into his arms just before the Welshman collapsed in a bundle of tears. "Shh… he knows you love him, and we'll find him, Yan. I swear we will."

"But what's happening to him… I keep picturing him…" Ianto's next words were distorted due to his sobs.

Jack led them to the bedroom. He gently undress his husband down to his boxer briefs then helped him into bed scooting in beside him and pulling him into his arms. "He's a lot stronger than any of us give him credit for. He'll be okay."

Ianto nodded against Jack's chest. "I'm sorry, Jack… for, god, everything."

"It's okay, Yan."

"I can't accept that it's Brody."

"I know…"

"He's the only one who stood with me when Bethan–"

"I know."

"I don't want to fight about it anymore, though. I want to be with you. Can we just… pretend this isn't happening when we're here?"

"Yeah, I can do that."


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: Tissues. Get them now. :( Thank you to my beta and buddy, Taamar. She's the best.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood**

**Warnings: Murder, implied non-con, general sadness. **

**Rating: MA**

**Jason **

It had been nearly two months, and Jason wasn't sleeping. At the six week point he'd tried to jump off the roof of Torchwood. Jack had caught him on the ledge and talked him down, and thankfully hadn't told anyone. They were closer now. Actually friends, it seemed.

Friends enough, at least, that he was currently sitting on Jack's (and Ianto's) bed. It was the only room in the flat where he could sit in complete darkness. He'd tried to stay at the school, he'd tried… but he couldn't; he'd left, and Jack had let him stay away. Joy Parker was running the school now.

The door to the room opened; Jason watched the band of light widen across the floor. "Jace? You want to come eat some dinner?" the young Trevor asked. Jason tried to avoid the kid as best he could, part of him wanted to believe that Adrian and Trevor had run off together… at least in that scenario Adrian was alive, safe, and happy. But as much as he wanted to, he knew it wasn't so, and he knew that Trevor was just as much a victim as Adrian.

"I'm not hungry."

"Yeah. It's just… Jack's kinda insistent."

Jason turned his back to the light. "Well I don't give a fuck if the king is insistent, I'm not hungry."

Trevor didn't reply, he just closed the door. Jason counted down from ten, and Jack was in the room when he got to two.

"Jason," Jack said in a warning tone.

"No," Jason spat. Jack gave him time each day to just sit in the dark, and Jason never wanted it to end.

"I'll count…"

"I'm shaking in my socks," Jason snarked.

Jack flipped on the light. Jason grunted and buried his head into a pillow. "You're not wearing socks," Jack pointed out. Jason heard him walk into the room and felt the bed move when he sat down.

"It can't have been two hours already." It didn't matter how long Jack left him in the dark, it never felt like enough.

Jack's hand came to Jason's back. He leaned back into the touch. Jack was thinking calming thoughts, and they were flowing through Jason, soothing his raw emotions. "I made fajitas. I know you like those."

"Adrian likes them."

Jack moved closer and put his arm over Jason's shoulder. "I'll make it for him when we find him…"

"He'll like that."

"Come eat for me?"

Jason nodded and felt his heart skip a beat when Jack gave him a small kiss on the cheek. They got off the bed and went into the kitchen together. Jason sat in his seat, watching as Jack finished preparations while young Trevor sat on the counter. The poor kid, they had told him that his older self had been sent to Kiev; they didn't want him to know he was missing. Jason felt guilt rise up in his gut; Trevor wouldn't have been taken if he hadn't left him tied up.

A bing announced the arrival of the lift. Jason felt Ianto's and Brody's rush as they came in. Ianto swatted Trevor off the counter and fetched a bottle of wine, grumbling, while Brody parked himself at the table without offering to help. Jack gave Trevor a stack of plates before pulling his husband up and giving him a kiss. They seemed to be better. Of course, that's what seeing your friend lose his lover does to people: makes them realize what they have and how it could so easily be taken.

"Missed you." Jack grinned at Ianto. Jason saw Brody scowl.

They all sat and enjoyed the meal Jack had prepared, talking about mundane things until Ianto cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. "I wanted to let you all know this first, before I announce it to the other Children. I've decided to step down as Minister."

Jason took in the faces of his… dare he say family? Jack didn't seem surprised, which meant they'd come to the decision together. Trevor seemed uninterested, and Brody's scowl from earlier in the meal was back. "And who's going to replace you?" the man asked.

Ianto shrugged. "I don't know. This is a long process Brody, I'm sure you remember it. It'll be another five years or so before the election, that'll give those who wish to take my place time to campaign and earn the support of the Rift Leaders."

"Yeah, I know that… but you have to approve those who run. Who are you going to let run?" Brody replied, clarifying his earlier question.

Ianto shrugged again. "Why? Do you want to run?"

That sent Jack into a coughing fit. Jason knew Jack and Brody still hated each other, and Jason was surprised that he was on Jack's side. He had never given up his suspicions about Brody's involvement with the murders, but there was no proof, and Ianto had made it clear that Brody was off-limits. It was only by tolerating the presence of his new PA (Trevor's replacement, Jason reminded himself), that they got to spend time with Ianto. And Jack was right. As Minster of the Rifts, Brody would tear apart everything Ianto had built.

"No," Brody spat, his gaze falling on Jack. "I wouldn't have support from Cardiff, so what would be the point?"

He was right on both counts. With Jack leading the Rift and Jason still technically in charge of the school, Cardiff would actively campaign against him. And Cardiff, as the long time home of the current Minister, was considered the 'Mother Rift'; the others tended to follow her lead.

"That brings us to our next announcement." Jack grinned, giving his lover a wink. "I'll be stepping down as well, both from Torchwood and being the Rift Leader." Jack's eyes met Jason's. "I was hoping that you'd take my place. In both positions. Ianto agrees, and he'll make sure his successor doesn't change it."

"How? He won't be in charge anymore."

"You've seen how he gets. Would _you _defy him?"

"I… can I have time to consider?" Jason stammered in disbelief. Jack nodded.

"What are you guys gonna do?" Trevor asked.

"There's this little planet–" Jack began.

Brody cut him off. "You're leaving Earth?"

Ianto took a sip of his water before answering with a simple "Yes."

Brody stood up. "Fucking perfect," he growled before heading to the lift.

"Gotta love family drama," Jason said, popping a pepper into his mouth. Dinner would be better without him, anyway.

**Ianto **

**_1936_**

_Ianto stormed into his office to see Brody standing by the bookshelf, his defensive pose and surly expression a clear indication that knew he was in trouble. Ianto had seen him talking to the current Director of Torchwood, and he'd be damned if Brody was going undercover there. Ianto walked forward, pulled Brody away from the shelf, then slammed him against the wall next to his door._

_"Who the fuck gave you the authority to try and get into Torchwood?" Ianto demanded._

_"No one, sir." Brody replied, shifting his eyes downward._

_ Ianto pulled away and ran his fingers through his hair angrily. Was this the universe's way of paying him back? Some sort of karma? Brody was defying just as he had defied…or would defy, Jason. Must be a Guardian/Charge thing; Bethan and Sarah had done it, too. Rebelling against authority, or some shit. But he and Brody had been lovers for 5 years, and he'd thought Brody told him everything. He thought Brody respected him not only as his guardian, but as Minister._

_"What the hell were you thinking?_

_"Ever since Debra was relocated, you and Bethan have been stressing about getting a new spy in there. I thought you'd be happy. I was trying to relieve some of your stress."_

_"And you think putting yourself in mortal danger is going to do that? I can't just sit back and let my lover go into that place!" Ianto spat. There was more to it than that. Anyone could have gone, and Brody had done it behind his back because he knew Ianto would never allow it._

_"You did," Brody snapped._

_"And it got me killed," Ianto reminded him._

_"Like you care. Like anything that happens to me matters at all," Brody snarled. "You're just killing time with me, and we both know it."_

_"I love you. I couldn't bear to lose you."_

_"Just admit that this is about Jack. You can't have him, so you don't want anyone else near him. You know you can't resist my ass, and you're afraid he won't be able to either. You're used to seeing me as your little charge, and now that I'm competition you're feeling threatened."_

_"You're not competition, Brody. Not even close," snarled Ianto. Using Jack against him was low, and he couldn't help but lash back._

_Brody balled his fists and leaned forward aggressively. "You don't think I can waltz in there and take Jack away from you? You don't think I'm good enough for him? I know I'm not enough for you, you've called his name when we're fucking often enough, so don't pretend this is about you loving me. What is it you're really afraid of?"_

_"I'm afraid it will get you killed!" Ianto shouted, "I lose everyone I care about; I don't want to lose you, and I don't want it to be my fault!"_

_"So you expect to protect me until I'm so old no one else will want me? And I'll pine away for a man who will never feel what I do, and I'll be your pity shag forever? Do you really think I'll accept that? That I'll do whatever you tell me? You can't control me like that!"_

_"Actually, that's exactly what a guardian is supposed to do, control their change and keep him from acting like a spoiled little brat. You're asking me to be honest? Why don't you try? This isn't about helping me or the Children, this is about punishing me for loving Jack." How had this all gone so wrong? Brody's other guardians had warned him that the boy could be savage, but he'd never seen it before. It had never been turned against him. He wondered which was the real Brody, the kind, playful one he'd known, or this angry man before him. He wondered if he'd ever known his lover at all._

_"So what if it is? Does it really matter why I want to leave? I can't stay here, David! I can't bear to hear his name on your lips and know that you're imagining him while you're holding me. I can't stand to know that you'd throw me away in an instant if you could have him. I can't stand to be your second choice anymore."_

_"Don't leave me," Ianto begged._

_"Tell me it's not true, then. Look me in the eye and tell me you love me more than Jack. Do that, and I'll stay with you forever."_

_"You know I can't."_

_Brody quirked a cruel smile. "Then I choose Torchwood, and I'll die because you didn't love me enough."_

_Ianto gasped at Brody's words. They'd been together long enough that he knew exactly how to hurt Ianto most, but Ianto had never thought he'd do it. His self-control snapped, and he reached out and slapped Brody. In his anger, he'd forgotten how much stronger he was, and Brody stumbled back against the wall. His face contorted with fury, and he rushed Ianto with his teeth bared._

_Ianto tried to defend himself, but he was at a disadvantage. Despite his greater strength, he didn't actually want to hurt Brody. He was still in his first life and wouldn't heal quickly, and any permanent damage was just that: permanent. So while Brody scratched and bit, kicked and tore at Ianto's clothes, Ianto clamped down on his own temper as he tried to hold Brody away from him, hoping to soothe him with gentle words of affection. It didn't help._

_They ended up on the floor with Brody fucking Ianto savagely. Ianto allowed it. Afterwards, he held Brody as the man cried in his arms. "Someday," Brody said quietly, "somebody will love me like I love you. And I'll never let him go."_

**Present Day**

"Fuck," Ianto yelled, his release rushing through him as Jack's teeth grazed against his collar bone. Jack pushed hard into Ianto a few more times before he too spiraled into in oblivion. "I love you," Ianto sighed, wrapping his arms around Jack when he tried to pull away. He just wanted to stay like this forever.

"I love you too," responded Jack, giving Ianto a lazy kiss. Ianto smiled.

"I'm glad." Ianto brushed Jack's damp hair off his forehead. "Tell me about this planet were going to again?"

"Everything's tiny. They have tiny animals. Like the giraffe, and tigers… I bet I'll find one with pants," Jack teased.

"You must be joking. Tiger pants? Please tell me you're making that up and that you didn't nickname me after _actual _tiger pants," said Ianto, biting Jack's nose. "What about whales? Do they have them?"

"Yeah, they'd fit in a fish bowl."

"Bethan would love that…" Ianto sighed. He found it didn't hurt as much to think of her anymore. "She loves whales."

It was Jack's turn to run his fingers through Ianto's hair. "We'll find her one day."

Ianto nodded. "I know."

"We're going to be stuck together if you don't let me up, beautiful," Jack said, kissing Ianto's lips again.

"I can think of worse fates."

Jack chuckled. Ianto released the man and let him get up. He watched his lover go to the bathroom and come back moments later with a wet cloth. Ianto closed his eyes and allowed himself to relax as Jack gently cleansed his skin.

"So… what do you want to do today?" Ianto asked, stretching his arms above his head.

"Besides stare at you?" Jack grinned.

Ianto laughed. "You're such a charmer. How could anyone ever resist you?"

"I don't know, ask Jason; he's still doing it. I think I'm making some progress with him, though."

Ianto rolled out of bed. "Leave him alone, Jack," Ianto warned.

"He likes it. It distracts him."

"Jack," Ianto advised, "He's in mourning, he doesn't need you harassing him."

"See, I think he needs it as much as he likes it."

"Incorrigible," Ianto sighed under his breath as he headed to the loo.

**TW—TW—TW **

"I miss crosswords…" Jack whined. He and Ianto were sitting in the living room on the brand new comfortable couch they'd chosen together a week before.

Ianto looked up at his husband from his tablet. "They still have them."

"Yeah, but, not like they used to. I miss the smell of newspaper… and the way that the black ink would get on my fingers. Remember that time I smudged your button nose with it?"

Ianto looked at Jack and raised his eyebrow. He honestly didn't remember. "No, sorry."

Jack stuck his bottom lip out in an exaggerated pout. "Ah… that's 'cause he didn't happen, but let's make believe." Jack licked his finger and smudged it across Ianto's nose.

Ianto put on his best sorrowful expression. "What happened to you wanting to spend the day looking at me?"

"Well, now I'd like to play," Jack insisted, pulling Ianto tablet away from him and straddling him on the couch. "Don't you want to play?"

Ianto was just about to answer when the lift chimed. It was Jack's turn to pout, for real this time.

"We've got a problem." Jason announced. He sat down on the couch and was either unperturbed about the fact that Jack was straddling Ianto, or he was just ignoring it. Ianto couldn't tell.

Ianto looked at Jack and raised an eyebrow, thinking he'd get the hint. Jack just grinned. Ianto slapped his thigh. "Up." He laughed. Finally Jack got up. Ianto looked over at Jason, and his face fell. Something was wrong.

"Jack, could you give Ianto and me a minute?" Jason asked.

"Is it Trevor?" Jack whispered. All the happiness from moments earlier drained from his face.

Jason nodded.

Ianto gripped Jack's hand. "Was it a shuttle derailment… or…"

"He's still alive… I'm sorry Jack." Jason handed Ianto his phone. Ianto pulled looked at the photo. Trevor. Blindfolded, gagged, and tied up. Under the picture was an address. Along with a message:_ I want the Minister._

"Well he's not getting the Minister," Jack snapped. "He's getting an angry guardian."

Jack was already marching toward the lift. Ianto jumped up, "You're not going alone, Jack."

"No, I want you here and safe," stated Jack. It was spoken as a command, and there was no way Ianto was going to obey.

"Jack, it's been a long time since I've taken orders from you."

To Jack's obvious dismay, three men descended in the elevator.

**TW—TW—TW **

They stood outside the flat in the address and Ianto bit back tears. He could feel Trevor's rush, and alongside it… Brody. He couldn't believe he'd been so stupid. All the signs had been there.

"I'm going in alone. He's my charge, it's my responsibility," Ianto said, leaving no room for argument in his voice.

"And he's got my charge," Jack argued.

"Jack, if I go in there I can probably talk him down; if you go in there he'll freak out, and we don't know what'll happen."

Jack shook his head, clearly not comfortable with the idea of letting Ianto go alone into the house. "Yan… I just…"

Ianto pulled Jack close and placed a kiss on his lips. "I'll be fine, sir," he whispered. It had been quite a while since he'd used that endearment.

Jack's hand gripped Ianto's hair and, with obvious reluctance, he nodded. "I wish you'd let me come, but I understand. I love you."

"I love you too."

Ianto turned to walk toward the house, but Jason grabbed him and pulled him into a hug. "We'll get through this, Yanny."

"I know," Ianto replied, giving Jason a small kiss on the cheek, then pulled away and made his way in to the flat. He followed Brody's rush to a back bedroom.

Trevor was lying flat on his stomach on a queen bed in the middle of the room. He was held there by restraints on his arms and ankles. He had a blindfold, a gag, and head phones on his head. Every sense had been taken from him. On his back where the older Trevor had a tattoo about walking the world alone was the word 'Putin', just like all the other victims.

Ianto wrenched his eyes away from Trevor and looked at Brody, who was sitting in a chair in the corner of the room twirling a gun in his hands.

"You came!" Brody said with a pleased smile. "I wasn't sure you would. He's not even your charge."

"Brody… I don't understand why you've done this," Ianto began.

Brody looked up and smiled, showing his teeth. "Remember when we first met? I was at that orphanage, and you came in pretending to be a case worker or some nonsense. You saw those bruises on me and you took me away from there. Promised no one would hurt me again. You then proceeded to pawn me off to three separate guardians none of whom could… what was the word that one bitch used? Ahh, tame me."

Ianto wet his suddenly dry lips. "You were a rebellious teen… you needed to be understood. I did understand you then; I don't right now, but if we talk and you maybe put down the gun, I bet I could understand you again."

"No you can't!" Brody yelled, standing up and pointing the weapon at Ianto's face. "Don't you see that you failed me sir? You failed me!"

Tears stung Ianto's eyes. "I see that. I'm so sorry, Brody. Tell me what I can do to make it up to you and I will."

"No…" Brody whispered, moving toward Trevor and placing the muzzle of the gun against the back of the boy's neck. "It's too late, sir, I've found another. I've found someone to love." Ianto watched in horror as Brody pulled the trigger and ended Trevor's first life. Ianto heard the door to the flat opening, heard his lover running toward him.

Brody turned the gun back toward Ianto. "I wish you luck in your next life, sir."

Ianto had a split second to hear the gunshot before he was engulfed in white.

**Jack **

Jack caught Ianto as his body fell. There was so much blood. Jack vaguely heard another gunshot, but he was too caught up in staring at Ianto's unseeing eyes to know who had taken the shot. Jack sat there holding his lover. Brody had shot him directly through the heart. Of course, how symbolic. Jack was aware of the people moving around him but he couldn't bring himself to care. He'd lost Ianto. Again.

"Jack…" Jason whispered. Jason placed his hand on Jack's shoulder, but quickly pulled away as if Jack's skin had burned him, stung by the bleak despair he could feel through the contact. "You've got to let them take–"

"No," Jack snapped.

"Jack…"

"Why is he so stubborn? If he'd just listened to me and stayed… oh god." Jack let out a sob, then looked up at Jason. "When I find him again, I'm going to keep him in a padded room."

Jason gave a small smile. "That seems like a reasonable plan."

Jack nodded.

"Jack, you're going to have to let go. You have to let them take the body, then we need to go back to the flat, maybe get some sleep."

"I have to find him."

"I know, Jack… what I meant was, let's go to the flat and we'll discuss our next step."

Reluctantly, Jack lowered Ianto's body gently on the floor before standing. He felt his heart stutter again when he looked at the bed and watched a young woman zip up the body bag that held Trevor. "This is too much," he pleaded. He felt Jason's hand grasp his, fingers intertwining, and he was pulled from the room. He followed without protest.

Jack ignored the looks he and Jason received as they stood on a shuttle heading back toward Torchwood Tower. He didn't care that he looked like he'd just walked out of a horror film, with Ianto's blood all over his hands and shirt, and one of his hands still being held by Jason.

Jack was barely aware of the passage of time, and it felt like only a moment passed before Jason was leading him into the master bedroom of the flat. Jack stood rigid as a statue as Jason undid the buttons of Jack's shirt. He barely moved as Jason pushed the shirt off his chest. Jack didn't react till he felt Jason's lips ghost over his nipple. He pulled away and looked at Jason with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm sorry… It's the only why I know to comfort."

Jack noticed there was a slight tremble in Jason's hands. "Well… today we're going to learn a new way," Jack insisted. "Go shower and I'll meet you in the sitting room."

"You sure… I mean, are you okay alone?"

"Yeah… can't exactly kill myself, now can I?" Jack sighed.

Jason nodded, a small smile gracing his lips. "Right."

**TW—TW—TW **

"I have some leftover fajitas if you want some," Jack called to Jason. He stared at the container and tried not to think about how the night before there had been five men enjoying it and now three of those men were gone. There was no way he could eat fajitas tonight, maybe never again. "Nevermind. I'm going to order a pizza."

Jack walked into the sitting room and grabbed his phone off the side table. Jason was sitting with his head in his hands, his body shaking slightly with silent grief. Jack sat beside him and put a hand on his back. "If Ianto were here he'd make us eat something. He'd say we needed to carry on because the Rift Children are now depending on us. We have a responsibility to them."

Jason raised his head and looked at Jack. "Yeah. We do. Let's order that pizza."

**AN: (Evil grin) **


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: Okay, this chapter should make you all feel better. Thanks for all the reviews. And let's thank my beta Taamar. She's truly the greatest, plus she's a chef. Not a cook a chef, and she's awesome. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood**

**Warnings: Usual. **

**Rating: MA**

**John Hart**

The white light held John closer than any lover ever had. It made him feel peaceful and safe, which wasn't a feeling the conman was used to, but he had no choice but to accept it, and he found that it was impossible to think about anything but the warm, comforting embrace of the Rift. As the blinding white slowly faded to black, John could see a smattering of stars, and he started to hear… weeping.

Suddenly John realized that his feet were on solid ground once again. A rocky solid ground with sharp edges that bit into his bare feet. He grunted and tried to settle his feet in a less painful way. He heard someone weeping again; he'd almost forgotten about the weeping. He turned to see a figure on the ground, a man with skin so pale it almost glowed in the darkness. John looked up at the stars to give his new companion a moment to collect himself. John had always been fascinated with the glowing masses of gas that had helped travelers navigate the unknown since the beginning of time; he'd memorized the constellations on every planet he'd ever visited, and identified his current location with ease. "Nebula 17, Vegas Galaxy…" he mused. He remembered a trip to the planet with Jack. Jack had hated every minute of it, and while John did agree that humans, no matter how pretty, shouldn't be used as pets, he'd enjoyed being pampered by them in the hotel he and Jack had stayed in.

John came out of his memory when a rather concerning thought came to him: he was standing naked only miles away from a place that kept pleasure slaves. If he were caught this way, they would think he and the weeping one were runaways.

"Hey mopey. We got to think of a plan," John snapped. He paused, letting the other man's rush wash over him. Oh, just his fucking luck, the man who had relocated him in the first place. "Ianto?"

Ianto looked up at John with confusion. "John?"

"I can't fucking believe this," John grumbled in annoyance. "Have you even done it yet? Hmm? Put a bullet between my eyes?"

Ianto nodded slowly. "I had to, Nyx… You know it was deserved."

John only huffed in reply, turning away from Ianto in a snit, clearly unwilling to agree, but unable to argue. "I'll have words with you about that later, when we're safe. Right now we're one search party away from being some bear's pets."

"You know where we are?" Ianto asked. John heard him stand up.

"Yeah. We need to head that way. Jack and I found a small sanctuary village when we were here last. Of course, they're constantly moving around so as to avoid detection from the main city. But… I think I saw the light of a fire. It's our best bet."

They walked toward the fire for hours, the dark night slowly turned to day, and John could feel his feet healing, being shredded by the sharp rocks, and healing again. Constantly. "So, how much time has passed for you since you did me in?" John asked when he couldn't stand the silence any longer.

"Over a century."

"Huh," John replied, and silence fell over them again. Well, almost silence; there was still the sound of the rocks under their feet and, every so often, the screech of a creature that John could only hope was a small bird and not a large fire breathing one. That was not something he wanted to face, especially not without his pants.

"Wish the Rift could at least leave our shoes on us," Ianto complained, bringing John's thoughts away from dragons that may or may not exist.

"She likes her children naked," John teased.

Ianto looked over at him, his eyes squinting in the sunlight. "Jason used to say 'She always sends her Children where they need to be'. So you believe that the Rift is a god?"

John shrugged. "I don't know. Could be, I guess."

"Do you pray to it?"

"Is that really what you want to talk about? Religion?"

Ianto shook his head. "No. I'm just tired of walking in silence."

"Understandable. Well, tell me what happened in your century without me," John suggested.

The next hour or so was filled with Ianto going over everything that John had missed out on, from finally telling Jack, to losing both his daughters, and finally about his favorite charge shooting him in the heart.

"I wonder what year we're in now? If Jack's been without me, or if it's before I've even been relocated." Ianto said, wiping a stray tear from his face.

"We'll figure it out. I want to get to Jack too."

They had traveled a few more hours, both starving and thirsty and stumbling every few steps, when John saw salvation in the form of an RV.

"Gypsies," John announced, and he and Ianto ran the last hundred meters as best they could with their aching feet. A beautiful girl came out to greet them.

"Well as I live and breathe!" The girl shouted excitedly, running to Ianto and engulfing him in a hug.

"Mia! I can't believe it," Ianto exclaimed happily.

John allowed them their happy moment before making his presence know the best why he knew how. "I'd enjoy one of those hugs, southern bell."

The girl pulled away from Ianto and met John's eyes. "Oh… well, come get one," She leered at him openly, letting her gaze wander up and down his naked body with a pleased expression on her face. John's already dry mouth became that much dryer.

**Ianto **

Ianto sat on the oversized bed in Mia's, well… home, Ianto guessed, and tried not to laugh at the outfit John Hart was wearing. They were both freshly showered and wearing sweat pants that Mia had given them. Ianto's were just a plain black, while John's had little pink hearts on them. Every time Ianto looked at the ex-Time Agent, a small smile would form on his face.

"So… when we get back to your village is there a way to send a transmission to Earth?" Ianto asked Mia. He'd found out that it had been only three months since Brody had relocated him, which wasn't too bad, except for the fact that getting back home was going to take some time. He just wanted to get a message to Earth so Jack would know he was okay and coming home.

"I don't think so, we've only got limited tech out here, Minister," Mia said, her Texas twang apologetic.

Ianto had already told her three times that she didn't need to call him Minister, he wasn't going to waste his breath on a fourth. "Well, what's the quickest way off this planet?"

"You'd have t' go to Sin. We can maybe work you up some papers, but that barcode on your back is gonna be an issue."

"He can pose as my pet," John suggested with a wide grin at Ianto, who returned a quelling glare. "Think of it as role playing, Captain."

Ianto had told John not to call him that, but as with Mia, it hadn't had any effect. "What happens if they scan it? I mean, it's going to register nonexistent, 'cause it hasn't been assigned to me yet." And it wouldn't be for centuries.

"Well, since John would have papers saying you belonged to him, I doubt they'd scan you. They would absolutely scan you if you went in alone or drew attention to yourselves, but as long as you both keep your noses clean, you should be able to board a ship and head off into space without issue."

_And how long will that take?_ Ianto wondered to himself.

**TW—TW—TW **

It took nearly two weeks to prepare their forged papers and get to the edge of the city, and Ianto found himself being led into Sin by John and Mia. (How amusing.) He had a leather collar around his neck and was, to his embarrassment, only wearing a thin pair of pants. Ianto wondered, not for the first time, why they couldn't have just covered up the tattoo. Of course, the answer to that had been made obvious when John's shirt had been taken off him on the entry into the city. "It's protocol," the man who'd done it explained when Mia turned to shield her front while her back was exposed. "We've had a lot of runaways try to get passage on our ships." Ianto was interested to note that John turned away like a gentleman. And was that a blush?

John was decked out, of course. He kept winking at Mia, who was posing as his girlfriend. Ianto was beginning to wonder if they were actually a couple, or in the process of becoming one. They were certainly putting on a show, in any case.

"Keep up, whore," John sneered. John was having way too much fun with this game, Ianto thought, and he vowed to make the man pay for it later. From the small twinkle in John's eyes, Ianto was certain the conman knew it, and was looking forward to it.

"Be nice," Mia said pinching John's nose as they walked into the Sin space station.

John walked up to the ticket counter and smiled at a young brunette behind the counter. "I need a room in one of those shiny spaceships," he told her. Ianto stood behind him and looked at his feet, trying to look like a submissive slave, while Mia seemed suddenly interested in her handbag.

"Of course… where will you be heading?"

"Earth… or at least as close as your liners will take us," John replied.

"I see. Well, our silver cruise goes all the way to the Jupiter colony in the Milky Way. It's a six month trip there. It's our most expensive package."

"Well that's the one I want, gorgeous. Can I assume you'll get a commission?" John leered. Mia cleared her throat, clearly unhappy with the endearment John had used.

Ianto didn't have to look up to know the girl was blushing. "Yes, sir. I'll get you booked right away. It doesn't depart for another week."

Ianto had to bite his lip to keep from sighing in despair.

"That's alright beautiful, can you tell me a nice place to hunker down for said week? And also a communication center so I can get a message to my relatives on Earth; they'll want to know when to expect me back."

"Yes, sir," She chirped. Ianto saw her grab a map of the city, and John leaned forward a bit to look at it with her. Ianto drowned it out because it was just more of John's shameless flirting, and if Ianto continued to listen he knew he'd snap at John to hurry the fuck up, and it wouldn't do well for his cover to yell at his 'owner' in the middle of a space station. He wasn't the only one losing patience, either. Mia seemed to be one wrong word away from smacking him.

When John finished with the girl, he led Ianto and Mia back out onto the streets of Sin. Ianto wanted to ask John where the communication center was, and demand that that be their first stop, but it was too risky. Besides, he was sure that's where John was taking him anyway. They reached a building several blocks away from the space station and there was no question in his mind what it was. Especially since it had an overbearing sign that read _'Sin Communication Center'_.

"Alright, you boy's have fun, I'm gonna go see about getting us rooms. Yes, I said rooms. Plural. I'm not sharing." Mia grinned before leaving John and Ianto. "No more flirting," she called back to John as she continued to walk.

"So? You and Mia?" Ianto asked.

John looked at him and grinned. "Oh, she's something isn't she? Hair like a poodle. Gorgeous."

"Yeah?" Ianto replied, not sure if that was an answer or not.

They went into the center and Ianto suppressed a huff of irritation when he saw that there was yet another lovely girl behind the help counter. At this rate it was going to take them all day.

"See, I thought I was entering the Communication Center but by the looks of your eyes this must be heaven." John began. Ianto rolled his eyes at the ground. John was a hopeless flirt.

"Oh you're too kind. What can I do for you?"

"I need to rent a communications room… are you able to get a signal to Earth?"

"Yes sir, I assume you know how to do it? Or would you require a specialist?"

"Oh, I assure you I know how to do it."

Thirty minutes of flirting later, and at last Ianto was led by John into a small communication room. He shut the door behind them and immediately took off the collar. "It's chafing my skin," he complained.

"It's a good look for you, though," John insisted, concentrating more on the equipment in the room than his flirting.

"Torchwood Tower in Cardiff has the one of these."

John looked back and raised an eyebrow. "Can I assume that's where you want me to call?"

"Oh… yeah, I guess I wasn't thinking about it, but yeah."

John went back to work pressing buttons and looking at numbers on a giant board plastered on one of the walls in the small room. Ianto sat in a chair and watched. "You know, for a man who once said he hated technological geniuses, you sure are one."

"Well, never said I didn't hate myself," John replied, his tone a little too serious for Ianto's comfort.

Ianto leaned forward and ran his hand up John's back. "You're a good person who did a few bad things. You were relocated for your crimes and now you've been made clean by the Rift."

"Who's thinking of the Rift as a god now?"

Rolling his eyes, Ianto turned to the screen in front of his chair. "How long will we have with them?"

"Up to an hour." John pushed a few more buttons and took the seat beside Ianto. Ianto smiled when the room started to fill with what he thought of as an old timey ring tone. In a few moments their call was answered.

"Torchwood Cardiff. I'm Lydia, how can I help you?" The girl was up on the screen wearing a black shirt with a silver T embroidered on her shoulder.

"Well hello Lydia–" John's voice oozed seduction, so Ianto cut him off before he got any further. He wasn't about to waste his hour talking to Earth listening to John flirt some more.

"Hello Lydia, my name is Ianto Jones. I'm Captain Harkness's husband; I need to speak with him, would you please page him to the room?"

**Jack **

"Jason have you seen…" Jack began, only to turn and see Jason come out of the en suite wearing the shirt he'd been looking for. "Yes, you've seen it, and you've plastered it on your body."

"Oh? I thought this one was mine," Jason claimed.

Jack looked back at the closet he and Jason seemed to share now. Actually, Jack was pretty sure he and Jason shared everything now. The closet, the bed, the flat, meals, and orgasms. Jack knew that everyone thought he and Jason had become a couple. Yuck. Jack still hated that word. Of course, if they were a couple they were a dysfunctional one, clinging together for support though their otherwise unbearable loss.

"Well, it's not. May I have it back?"

Jason seemed to ponder for a moment before answering, "No."

"Are you still angry because I ate the last piece of pizza?" questioned Jack.

"Yes, because I'm a freaking teenager. Who gets angry over pizza?"

Jack shrugged. "How about you tell me why you won't give me the shirt?"

"Cause I want you to rip it off me."

"Ulterior motive? Sounds fun." Jack responded with a playful growl, walking around the bed. Jason took a step back. "Where ya gonna run, Jace?"

Jason smiled. "What's the point in running?"

"Could give us both a bit of cardio?"

"Only you need that, pizza hog."

Jack lunged and wrapped his arms around Jason, who wasn't putting up much of a fight. "How's your trust today?" he asked, breathing into Jason's ear.

"Umm…" Jason mumbled uncertainly.

"Alright, how about I take this shirt back, and you can take control after that," Jack rasped, gently undoing the buttons of the shirt. Jason nodded. "I'm in charge until the shirt is off, though." Jason nodded again. Jack continued to undo the buttons until the shirt was opened enough for him to slide a hand into it.

Jason shifted and let out a shaking breath. "No no, stay still," Jack whispered, bending forward and latching on to Jason's neck. Jason whimpered beautifully. "You're okay, I won't hurt you," Jack reassured him. Jack enjoyed it when Jason let him touch him freely like this. He ran his hands over the man's abs, which were traced with scars from the tenth century knight's first life. They were beyond sexy. Jack bent and kissed a rather long scar just below Jason's left nipple. "Do you remember how you got this one?"

"My first battle… I was only fourteen. I thought I was going to die, it got infected but, surprisingly for the era, I pulled through. Can you imagine me being fourteen forever?"

Jack looked up and grinned. "It would be a bit sad. I like you like this."

"Yeah," Jason breathed. "I was already pretty damaged by that age, war does that to a kid, so I don't things would've been that different. Except it might have wrecked my sex life; the only people who are interested in someone who looks fourteen aren't the kind of people I want to fuck."

"I went to war when I was young too. I convinced my best friend that we should do it, we got caught, and they tortured and killed him in front of me…" Jack said, unsure why he constantly found himself sharing things like that with Jason. Despite the fact that he'd grown fond of the man, they were essentially friends who fucked, taking comfort in each other to ease the loneliness. Jack wasn't sure if it was healthy.

"We're a damaged pair, aren't we?" Jason replied, echoing Jack's thoughts. His body was trembling, so Jack straightened up and pulled the shirt the rest of the way off, giving Jason the control he needed.

**TW—TW—TW **

"I miss them," Jason whispered sorrowfully, his lips ghosting over Jacks cheek. They'd had a long day managing Cardiff and the other rifts, and they both needed a good night's sleep. Jack pressed closer to Jason on the bed. Their bed, he supposed.

It had been three and half months of it just being Jason and Jack. Jack missed Ianto fiercely, but he missed the others as well. Losing Ianto, Adrian, and both Trevors was devastating. "They'll come back… they have to."

Jason nodded.

Jack groaned when he heard the bing of the lift. He rolled off the bed and opened the door to the main flat. It was nearly two in the morning, so it had to be something important.

"Sir, Lydia from Communication sent me…" said a nervous young man. Jack was standing in the buff, so he understood why the man was looking at the ceiling. It was rather cute. "She says that… well, a man claiming to be Mr. Jones is requesting to speak with you."

Jack's heart leapt into his throat. "On my way," he stammered, running back into the bedroom and struggling to get clothes on as quickly as possible. Jason, having apparently overheard the conversation, was up and dressing as well.

In under five minutes Jack and Jason were clambering into the communications room and locking eyes with Ianto Jones and John Hart.

"Ianto," Jack breathed. "Oh god, are you okay. Where are you?"

"I'm fine Jack, I'm just so happy to see you. I love you so much, I'm so sorry…" Ianto replied.

"It's alright, it wasn't your fault," Jack said taking a step closer to the screen and wishing he could touch his lovers face. "Gods I've missed you. You look exactly the same, of course… except, why don't you have a shirt on?"

Ianto face went a nice shade of pink. "Well, I've had to…"

"Pose as my pet," John interjected. Jack looked at him and couldn't help but smile.

"Well, be ready to give the leash to me when you get here," Jack teased.

"Yan, where are you?" Jason interrupted.

"Nebula 17 in the Vegas Galaxy, we're in the City of Sin. Literally and figuratively," John replied.

Jack's eye flitted to his ex-partner then back to his lover. "Do we need to send a ship to come collect you?"

"No," Ianto eyes went toward Jason, "I found Mia. She's amazingly happy and I've talked her into coming back to Earth."

"That's brilliant," Jason smiled, and Jack noticed him wiping a tear off his face.

"Anyway, we're leaving in a week, and we'll arrive on Jupiter Colony in about 6 months," Ianto continued.

"I'll meet you there," Jack insisted.

"I can't wait to see you, Jack."

**Jason **

Jason stood in the door way of the bedroom he'd been sharing with Jack. Jack was pulling off the clothes he'd tossed on to go talk to Ianto. As relieved as Jason was to know that Ianto was safe and coming home, he couldn't help but feel a bit… wistful. He'd just gotten used to this odd new life he and Jack had started, and now he would go back to being a third wheel, and all he really wanted was Adrian.

"What are you doing, Jace? Come to bed." Jack yawned. He was fully nude now and crawling into the king sized bed that didn't belong to Jason. It belonged to Jack and Ianto.

"Maybe I should… I mean, get used to sleeping alone."

Jack's face fell. "No."

"Jack, with Yan coming back… and," Jason began, but stopped when Jack got off the bed quickly and walked over to him.

"He doesn't take up much room," Jack protested. He walked back over to the bed and jumped up onto it. "Look, this bed could hold four of me." He rolled four times on the bed to make his point.

"I don't think the world could handle four of you," Jason laughed.

Jack stopped rolling, landing on his stomach and looking back at Jason with grin that promised wonderful things. "You," he said, pointing a playful finger at Jason, "can't even handle one of me."

Jason held the annoying man's gaze and pulled his shirt over his head. "I'm about to handle you, irritating bastard."

"I love it when you use pet names."

Jason stepped forward and smacked Jack's ass.

"I love that too," Jack moaned, thrusting into the bed.

Jason pulled his clothing off quickly and straddled Jack's back, bending down to kiss his neck. Jack sighed happily. "You're such a slut," Jason whispered.

"Back to the pet names," Jack hummed.

"Yeah," Jason sighed as he began to massage Jack's back, feeling the man relax under him. Jack had tried to massage Jason once when he was stressed, only to find out that Jason hated it. He did like to give them, though; it was about taking care of people. He reached over the bed and pulled out some peppermint oil.

"Ianto's gonna be upset when he comes back to oil stains on his sheets," Jack mumbled into the pillow, sounding nearly asleep.

"I'll buy him new ones." Jason put some of the oil in his hand and warmed it before letting it drip off of his palm and land on Jack's back. Jack let out a deep breath. Jason smiled and began to rub Jack's back, enjoying the feel of the man's skin under his hands and wondering, not for the first time, why he'd waited so long to give in. Jack wasn't at all what he had always assumed. Sure, he was arrogant, but he was also clever and kind, and while Jason couldn't imagine being in an actual relationship with him, the sex was fantastic, and at was nice to have someone to hold at night until Adrian came home.

A soft snoring filled the room, and Jason smiled. Jack had passed out. Jason eased away from him and made a quick trip to the loo before climbing back into bed.


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: I know it's been forever. Sorry. Taamar and I have had life issues. I of course spent Valentines up to my ears in flowers at the family flower shop. (My feet still hurt) So as usual thanks Taamar, you are amazing. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood**

**Warnings: Non con and torture. Mostly just implied though. And the normal stuff on top of that. **

**Rating: MA**

**Adrian **

Lying awake and bound uncomfortably to the bed next to a man he'd hoped never to see again, Adrian glanced at Trevor, who was lying in the bed across from the one Adrian was in. His hands were cuffed to the headboard in the same fashion as Adrian's, and Brody was wrapped around him in a bizarre parody of affection. Their eyes met across the gap between beds, both men taking comfort in the fact that at least they had each other. Max moved behind Adrian, and Adrian's whole body tensed.

After a minute, Adrian decided that his captor must have just been shifting in his sleep. He looked back at Trevor. They'd get out of this together.

**TW—TW—TW **

"Where do you suppose we are?" Trevor whispered, leaning his head onto Adrian's shoulder. They were still bound, but the cabin had apparently been deemed secure enough that they were permitted have free access to the loo while their captors were out.

"Space," Adrian teased, turning his head and kissing the top of Trevor's.

Trevor allowed himself a small chuckle. They had been on a spaceship for some time, where else would they be? "Thanks for that. What are we going to do now?"

Adrian had no idea. He couldn't imagine anything they_ could_ do. After their most recent escape plan had failed miserably (and painfully), Adrian had lost hope and spirit, and now they were beyond Jupiter, where the laws were different. Adrian had figured that much out the day Max and Brody had led them aboard a spaceship wearing collars, and no one had seemed the least bit bothered by it. In fact, there had been many others who were obvious slaves. Adrian had never realized how bad things were outside the safety of his little blue planet.

"We wait. Once we reach wherever they're taking us, we'll be able to think of a better plan." Adrian sighed.

"I'm sorry, Adrian… If…" Trevor began, but choked back a ragged sob and couldn't continue. It didn't matter, he'd said it before, many times. Adrian would have wrapped his arms around Trevor to comfort him, but his hands were bound behind his back.

"Trev, it's still not your fault," Adrian assured him, as always. Trevor looked up at him and inched closer. They kissed gently, but pulled away quickly when the door swooshed open.

Brody came in first, pulling Trevor up from his spot beside Adrian and cupping his chin tenderly. Adrian held in a protective growl. "Are you hungry, love?" Brody asked, giving Trevor a gentle kiss on the cheek.

"No," said Trevor defiantly as Max came in, already undoing his cuff links. Adrian shifted in his spot, glad that Max was ignoring him, at least for the moment.

"Well, we're going to go eat anyway," Brody insisted, pulling Trevor toward the door. Adrian wanted to stop them, he didn't want to be left alone with Max, but he kept silent. Protesting would only make things worse.

Max pulled Adrian to a standing position, gripping his chin harshly. "Are you hungry, whore?"

Adrian tried to spit in his face; Max dodged it easily. Adrian had gotten him in the eye the first few times, but after half a year the man had learned to avoid it, and Adrian hadn't scored a hit in weeks. He tried anyway, on principle. "I'm not a whore!"

Max forced Adrian to his knees and sneered down at him. "Yes, you are. You always have been. "

Adrian tried to pull away. He'd never stop fighting Max because he had nothing to fear. All Max could do was relocate him, and Adrian prayed for that daily. Max grabbed Adrian by the shoulders and flung him onto the bed. "You'll never learn, will you?"

**TW—TW—TW **

As far as Adrian could tell, this was the part Max enjoyed the most: when he'd just sit back and watch the damage he'd inflicted on Adrian heal. This time he had snapped Adrian's wrist, and Adrian could feel a few broken ribs grinding back into place, as well. His entire back felt wet and sticky with blood from bites and whip marks.

Max brushed his hand over a particularly tender spot on Adrian's back that was still healing. The whip marks were the worst. The ragged edges didn't always align properly, leaving Adrian with skin that tugged painfully even when it appeared whole. If he ever got out of this, he'd likely have to have it stripped completely. Adrian let out a small whine and screwed his eyes shut tight, but otherwise remained still. Max was done with him for now, and if Adrian just sat didn't move and didn't comment, it might be an entire day before he felt the need to abuse Adrian again.

"I wish you didn't heal so fast," said Max, pinching hard where his marks had almost disappeared. "I'd like to see my bites on your skin forever. I wonder if Brody could tattoo them? Maybe right here?" Max ran his hand over Adrian's neck, "or here," his hand slapped Adrian's ass. "Oh, no I know," Max's hand forcefully grabbed Adrian's balls, grinning with satisfaction at Adrian's wince. "That would be painful, don't you think, whore?"

Before Adrian could answer that, yes, it would indeed be painful, the door to the cabin swooshed open, and Adrian heard Trevor gasp. Max let out and evil laugh and released Adrian's package. "Clean him up, Brody. I'm going to eat," Max ordered, and Adrian felt his tormentor's rush move away.

Adrian pried his eyes open and watched as Brody attached Trevor to the other bed. Adrian had seen Brody slap Trevor and spank him, but Brody had never beaten Trevor like this, and the one time Max had attempted to, Brody had thrown himself between them at the last second, allowing the whip Max was wielding to gash across his face. That night, Adrian and Trevor had been tied to one bed while Max had taken his anger out on Brody. It was clear that, in his own twisted way, Brody did love Trevor. Not that it did either of them any good.

"I'm sorry," Trevor said, looking at Adrian with tears running down his face. Adrian shook his head without comment and shivered while Brody cleaned the blood from his now-healed back.

"He wouldn't do this if you'd just behave," Brody chastised.

Adrian felt small hysterical laugh torn from his lips. "Yes, he would."

Brody tutted and pulled Adrian up, uncuffing him from the bed and binding his hands in front of him before helping him lean upright against the headboard. "You hungry? I brought you a sandwich."

Adrian nodded, deciding to be good because the last time he'd refused to eat Max hadn't let him have any food for nearly a month. It wasn't a pleasant memory. Rift Children couldn't starve to death, but their bodies would consume themselves and heal in an endless cycle of agony. Brody passed Adrian the sandwich he'd brought, and Adrian set the plate next to himself and ate the sandwich as cleanly as he could. His life was unpleasant enough, he didn't want crumbs in the bed. Brody sat on his bed beside Trevor, his hand caressing Trevor's thigh.

Trevor was leaning his head against the wall. He always cried when he had to watch Max with Adrian, and though his tears were under control, he still sniffled every so often.

When he'd finished the sandwich, Adrian passed his empty plate to Brody with a quiet 'thank you' and didn't resist when Brody reattached him to the bed.

Once Brody turned his focus to Trevor, it was as if Adrian had ceased to exist for him. He undid Trevor's restraints and gathered him tenderly in his arms, whispering endearments. Adrian was sickened by the caricature of a loving embrace.

Adrian could only watch as Brody forced Trevor to straddle him and wrapped his arms tightly around Trevor's back. Trevor's body was tense, but after a few more gentle 'shh…s' he seemed to relax in Brody's arms. At times like this, Adrian wondered if Trevor had begun to care for Brody. He'd heard of Stockholm syndrome, and he knew it was possible to identify with an abuser, but in the moments when they were alone Trevor had confessed everything he'd been hiding, and now Adrian knew better than anyone how flawlessly the man could lie.

They rocked together for a bit, and Adrian had almost drifted to sleep when he heard Brody murmur into Trevor's ear. "You need a haircut," he said in the exact tone Jason would have used with Adrian. "What do you say that when we land tomorrow, I take you to get it done, Hmm? And maybe we can go to a proper restaurant? Make it like a date?"

Trevor remained silent.

"Trevor," Brody warned.

"Yes, sir, I'd like that," Trevor replied drily. Adrian heard rather than saw Brody slap Trevor's ass.

Adrian opened his eyes in time to see Brody switch his and Trevor's positions, pinning the smaller man under him. The cabin door swooshed open, and Adrian was saved from having to watch whatever Brody intended to do next.

"We've reached orbit, Brody. Would you like to come see?" asked Max. "You can fuck your pet later," he added dismissively after looking down at Brody on the bed with Trevor.

"Fine, sure," said Brody. Though clearly irritated at the interruption, he appeared unwilling to antagonize Max, and attached Trevor back to the bed.

The two captors left, and Adrian and Trevor were alone again. "Why do you fight him?" Trevor asked with a sniffle.

"Why don't you?" Adrian retorted.

"I don't want you to see me hurt."

"Trevor, he'll hurt me whether I do as he says or not. Brody, for all he's unbalance, actually cares about you. Max just likes to see me in pain." Adrian sighed and leaned his head back with his eyes closed.

Trevor shifted as much as he could in the uncomfortable position Brody had left him in. "How do you know unless you try? Please Adrian, for me, please, I hate seeing you covered in blood like that. I die inside every time."

Fuck, Adrian thought. He couldn't deny Trevor this one thing. "Okay, I'll give it a try. For you, but… I go back to spitting in his face if he continues to hurt me regardless."

**John **

John gently fastened the collar around Ianto's neck. The man had been weeping quietly ever since they'd ended the transmission with Jack, and John wasn't sure if the tears were happy or sad; he didn't ask, either. Crying people always made him uneasy.

"When I get back to him, I'm never leaving his side again," Ianto swore.

John caressed Ianto's cheek. "Of course, not this lead only allows for about three feet of distance."

Ianto snorted in amusement. "There's that."

John reattached the lead and tugged it playfully. "Let's go get some rest, my pet."

**TW—TW—TW**

Their hotel room was small, but it wasn't _terrible_; it contained a bed big enough for two and a large television, along with a small bath. John was currently occupying the bed and television while Ianto enjoyed a bath. Mia was in a room across the hall, and John found himself wondering what she was doing over there all alone. Wondering led to touching himself, and when Ianto came out smelling like peppermint, John wanted to attack him right there.

"What the hell are you watching?" Ianto asked, scrubbing his hair dry with a towel and looking at the telly.

John looked at the TV and realized it was some alien cooking show, or maybe alien porn; he wasn't quite sure which. He hadn't really been watching, he was too busy imagining the southern belle in the other room. He pictured her naked and touching herself. He wondered if she'd welcome some company. He considered finding out, but he was afraid she's beat the shit out of him, though, come to think of it, he might like that. He turned to Ianto, barely remembering his question. "I don't know."

"Hmmm… can you turn it off? My stomach is upset enough."

"Low tolerance?" John teased, pressing the power button on the television. Ianto turned and raised an eyebrow, but must have decided against commenting because he silently went to the other side of the bed and climbed in.

John used the remote to turn down the lights in the room, and was pleasantly surprised when Ianto pulled him close. "Are you still mad at me for shooting you?"

"Nah, you did what you had to do," John yawned. "I didn't expect it; I thought maybe you'd let me go, for what we had shared on the Ruby Jewel, but you had changed. You said it's been a hundred years for you since you relocated me, how long had it been before that?"

"A hundred and fifty, and eighty as Minister. I'd recently put down a coup; I couldn't show weakness. And after what you had done… I had to."

"I know. I forgive you."

"Thank you, John. I don't know what I'd have done if you hadn't been there. I'd probably have wandered aimlessly in the desert until someone found me, and it's unlikely it would have been anyone friendly. You're the reason I'm on my way home to Jack. I'm surprised you didn't just leave me. I deserved to be left..."

John turned so he could see Ianto's face and delicately brushed a tear from the man's cheek. "You didn't. You're a good man, Eye Candy."

"Oh god, I'd nearly forgotten about that stupid name," Ianto groaned.

John smiled. "Give me twenty minutes and I'll make you forget it again."

**TW—TW—TW**

Six days later, John found a nice bar close to their hotel while cruising the city alone. Ianto had flat refused to leave the hotel room in a collar again, and with only one day left on solid ground, John didn't want to spend it cooped up in a hotel room. Of course, he wouldn't have minded being cooped up with Mia, but she had thus far resisted his charms. John hadn't worked out whether she was playing hard to get, or was genuinely not interested, but he intended to keep trying until he found out. In the meantime, there were plenty of people who _were_ willing. It wasn't overly loud in the bar, and he saw a cute waitress he would like to get to know better, though he refused to admit to himself that he was mainly interested because she resembled Mia.

He stopped just inside the door when he felt the rush of a Rift Child. Hmm, might as well meet the locals. John casually made his way to the corner of the room, where he knew he'd find at least one Child.

When he reached the source of the rush, he found four men seated in a curved booth. The two attractive blonds in the middle were shirtless, and both wore the collar of a slave. The two on the outer edges were taller than the blonds and had dark brown hair. All four were Rift Children. John walked up to the table and nearly stopped when he recognized one of the blonds, but decided to play dumb.

"Hey there. You guys new in town?" asked John with a warm smile.

"No, but you are," one of the men said, showing his teeth in a manner John recognized as a not-so-subtle threat. He was sitting next to the one John had seen back in Cardiff. Adrian… fuck if he could remember the man's last name. Lesomethingorother. Anyway, he was important to Ianto.

"You're right," John admitted.

"I'm the Rift Leader here in Sin. Sit," The man ordered. Perhaps, John thought, he should have stayed in the hotel with Ianto. The outer Rifts were independent of Earth, and were often run by whomever was most ruthless. He began to consider that he might be in over his head.

He reluctantly sat beside the man, wondering why he had never noticed that a rush could feel greasy. The man seemed to be waiting for John to introduce himself. John recognized it as a way to reinforce his position, but decided to play along. "I'm John Hart," he said, feeling violated by the way the man was staring at him. He formulated a plan. "I've seen this one before," said John, pointing at Adrian. "He was there when I was relocated."

"Was he?" The man said, looking at Adrian, then back at John with interest. "What happened?"

"Well, Ianto Jones," John began, pausing when he saw the other man tense up at the name. Good. "Do you know him? He's a big deal on Earth. Minister, or some shit."

The man nodded. "Unfortunately, I do."

"Well, he got all pissed off and shot me. No real reason that I could see; he was upset that some regular humans had died. Seriously, why should I have cared? I have my revenge, though. Guess who was there when I came through? Mr. Jones himself. I've got him locked up in my hotel room right now. I'd like to forge some papers… make him 'legally' mine, as it were. Don't suppose you could help me with that?"

Adrian reacted, quickly coming out of his seat and leaping at John. "Jack'll kill you, you little piece of shit!"

The man forced Adrian roughly back into his seat before holding out his hand. "Maximillian Oldenburg. Max to people who can do something for me, Maxi to people who are ready to be relocated."

"Pleasure to meet you, Max."

"Likewise," Max said before pointing across the table at the other dark haired man. "This here is Brody Collins; you have him to thank for having Mr. Jones. He's the one who relocated the man."

"What? No… you couldn't have! You were…" the other blond began, only to have Brody snap at him to shut his mouth.

Max laughed. "Why did you think you could be a detective, whore? You still haven't figured us out, and you've had over a century. The Brody sitting beside you is in his third life. The Brody that took you and Ianto Jones out was in his second. He died in that room, too."

The other man's face went pale, and he sank deeper in his seat. "Anyway, Mr. Hart, I'd love to see your new pet."

"Oh yeah, we could make a party of it," John replied putting on his best flirty smile and looking the other blond up and down. In other circumstances, he'd absolutely have been interested, but he preferred his partners to be willing. "I'll share if you will."

"Of course! Brody, would you like to see Ianto again?" Max grinned across the table.

Brody looked up and nodded.

"Alright, how about we meet at my hotel room. In… let's say an hour?" John said. That should give him and Ianto enough time to get things set to rescue Adrian and the other one.

John gave Max the information for his hotel room, had a shot, and left without even speaking to the waitress he'd seen on the way in. He returned to the room he shared with Ianto and found the man flopped on the bed exactly where he'd left him, eating pastries from room service and wearing nothing but his pants.

"Oh, Captain Jones… Have I got a story for you!"

**Trevor**

"Do you need to use the loo?" Brody asked Trevor. Trevor's eyes were fixed on the spot that had moments ago contained a Child named John Hart. He turned to look at Brody and forced himself to focus on his abductor's question.

"Yes. Please."

Brody got out of the booth and helped Trevor up. They went to the back of the bar and into a tiny one stall restroom. Brody let Trevor go into it alone which made Trevor smile, which also made him feel insane.

"So…you're in your third life?" Trevor asked as he peed.

"Yep," Brody replied, yawning.

Trevor closed his eyes as he considered the implications. Brody had raped and murdered Trevor's younger self, and if this third one was the one who had come through in front of Jack, he had already done so when they met at the mansion. He'd been lying all along.

"I didn't know that I'd fall in love with you… you were just a means to an end back then. You're not anymore, you know that, right? I truly do love you, my little whore."

Trevor opened the stall and went to the sink to wash his hands. Brody wrapped his arms around Trevor's waist from behind and looked at him in the mirror. Trevor stood still, having no choice but to allow the embrace. "You're so beautiful, love, so perfect. All mine," Brody breathed, planting gentle kisses on Trevor's neck. "I know you're beginning to accept that now. You understand that I'm not only your lover, but your protector and provider. You'll want for nothing, you'll worry about nothing, because it's my responsibility to worry. Your only concern is to let me love you, and you'll come to love me back. I know you will."

**TW—TW—TW **

Trevor kept his eyes on the ground as Brody and Max pulled him and Adrian through the streets toward a hotel room that John Hart claimed held Ianto. Trevor chanced a look at Adrian and raised his eyebrow in question. Maybe this Hart guy was secretly on their side? Adrian only shook his head solemnly.

"So, we're taking Ianto from him, then? And what are we gonna do with Hart?" Brody asked Max.

"He's not too bad looking. Kinda old, but, I'm sure he'd be a nice fit in one of the cheaper houses," suggested Max.

"You think we should maybe have a bit more back up? Maybe we should have left them at home?"

"Brody, that man was too stupid to be a threat, and I refuse to ask for help when it's not needed. There are two of us and only one of him. Maybe I'll call in some more people after we've had our fun, but till then…Until then I'll finally have David Carter exactly where I've always wanted him. "

Max yanked Adrian's leash cruelly and unnecessarily when they reached the door to Hart's room, seemingly pleased to see the man wince and stumble. He smirked as he knocked twice on the door, and smiled when it opened. John Hart bowed and invited them in with a sweeping gesture. It was all Trevor could do not to fall to his knees in despair; there was Ianto, kneeling beside the bed with his hands locked behind his back and a collar around his neck.

Ianto looked up at the newcomers with shock. "Adrian?"

"No talking, Pet!" John snapped, hitting Ianto on the back of the head.

Max let go of Adrian's leash and took a step forward, eyes dilating with eager interest. Adrian stepped out of Brody's range and closer to the window.

"Well look at this, a gift for me and it's not even my birthday," Max leered, pulling Ianto up into a standing position and forcing his chin up.

In an instant, Ianto's hands were free and he was holding the muzzle of a gun to Max's neck. "I know, but it seemed like you needed one."

Trevor felt himself yanked back against Brody with the cool edge of a blade biting into his throat. "Let him go, Ianto, or I'll end Trevor," Brody threatened. Trevor could feel Brody shaking, and he would have been terrified if Brody hadn't been caressing his hands between their bodies.

"No you won't, and you know it," Ianto countered. John had already joined him, and they were handcuffing Max. Trevor stared at Ianto in shock. Of course Brody would do it, he'd done it before! He barely recognized the man across from him. This wasn't the Ianto he knew, his lover who had laughed against his skin in the dark; this was the Minister, a man who had let his wife die to preserve the timeline, who had walked calmly to his own relocation twice and expected the same fortitude of everyone around him. He wasn't even the furious Ianto Trevor had seen during the Torchwood debacle; this deadly calm Ianto was the only man the vicious, amoral Max Oldenburg feared. Ianto was willing to sacrifice Trevor if necessary and would kill Brody without a second thought. In this moment, Trevor was more afraid of Ianto than of Brody.

"I will. I won't let you take him from me!" Brody said, his voice ragged with emotion as he gripped Trevor's hands.

"So you're going to relocate him and lose him anyway?" John said with a raised eyebrow.

"Tell them you love me, tell them you want to stay with me," Brody begged. Trevor felt tears coming to his eyes. He just wanted it to be over, whichever way it happened.

Ianto looked straight at Brody with cold, hard eyes. "You need to accept that you've lost, Brody. Just put down the knife. For Trevor. It's over for you, but can still save him."

Brody let out a small sob, then Trevor felt the knife pulled away from his neck and heard it clink to the ground. He was released from Brody's grasp as his captor crumpled to the floor.

Brody sobbed on the ground, curled up and weeping helplessly, still declaring his love for Trevor. Ianto ignored him for a moment while he helped John move Max into the corner of the room; the man was tied up, but not cooperative, and it took both of them to shift him. When Max was taken care of, he walked back over to Brody and, without speaking, tied him up just as they'd done Max.

Trevor was too shocked to move, and he barely noticed John removing his cuffs.

"It's over, Trevor," Ianto said, gripping Trevor's face. Trevor blinked and found himself pulling away from the Minister. Ianto backed up and held his hands up in a non-threatening way. "Okay, it's okay."

Trevor looked toward Adrian, who had been sitting on the floor against the wall with his arms wrapped around his knees since Max had first been subdued. Trevor slowly walked over and sat beside him, making sure to stay far enough away so they didn't touch. He knew that Adrian needed to reassert control over his personal space, and he wasn't going to intrude.

"I've got some clothes that'll fit both of you if you'd like to get dressed. You can shower first if you'd like…?" John offered, kneeling in front of both men.

"I'm sorry I called you a little shit," Adrian sobbed.

John laughed gently. "I've been called worse."

Trevor stood back up. "May I... shower first? Do you mind?"

"Go ahead," said Adrian. As Trevor walked past Brody on his way to the bathroom he averted his eyes so as not to see the man's pleading look.

Once in the shower, he fell to his knees and cried as the water washed away all the unwanted touches. It was over.

**Ianto**

Ianto was determined not to sleep, no matter how much he wished he could just let the day end. One, he didn't think that Max should be left unmonitored, tied up or not, and two, he knew Trevor would likely have a nightmare, and Ianto intended to help him through it. So far he had slept quietly. Mia had taken Adrian to her room across the hall; he wasn't allowing anyone to touch him, and was clearly more comfortable being away from Max and Brody. Ianto had expected that, but he'd hoped that Adrian would at least accept a hug from his oldest friend. And Trevor… Trevor could barely look at him, and Ianto didn't know why.

"Eye Candy, get some sleep. I'll take a shift," John yawned. He'd been asleep on a side chair, but had moved to sit on the floor beside Ianto, and was now leaning on his shoulder. Ianto heard a quiet whimpering and shot up to check on Trevor, but the noise had come from Brody. Ianto pushed the urge to comfort his charge away, and sat back down beside John.

"Three hours and we'll need to be on that ship… what the fuck am I gonna do with those two?" Ianto sighed.

"Well, there's the obvious answer, you could…"

"No, I could not. Fuck I can't." He wanted to, wanted it desperately, but it just wasn't practical. Three hours wasn't long enough to hide bodies that would disappear in six weeks.

"Our cabin can hold up to eight passengers," John observed.

Ianto didn't relish the thought of being stuck in a small cabin with Max for six months, but he also didn't want to spend eternity looking over his shoulder in fear that Max would come back and screw with his life again. "How will we get them in? I mean, you have papers that say I," Ianto rolled his eyes at the pronoun, "belong to you. But, we have nothing on them." He gestured toward the other people in the room.

"Mia could forge some more papers. We can say Max and Brody are slaves like you."

Ianto nodded. "We'll turn the tables on these two. We can get them back to Earth and into a nice cold cell, and, as a bonus, Adrian and Trevor can have a bit of revenge." He only hoped it would help them heal.

**TW—TW—TW **

"You're going to be good, aren't you?" Ianto commanded Brody with his hand gripping his charge's chin, forcing him to look into Ianto's eyes.

"Yes, sir."

"You're going to walk into that ship with us. You will keep your head down and your mouth shut."

"Yes," Brody repeated. Ianto released him and walked away. The others were all getting dressed and preparing to leave.

Ianto knelt down and pulled the rag that had been stuffed in Max's mouth out. "I'd love to put a bullet into your head, but I'm not going to. I'm taking you back to Earth, and you'll rot in a cell for eternity."

Max glared in silence. Ianto sighed and forced the rag back into the man's mouth.

"Let's get going," Ianto sighed, standing up. He grabbed the collar he'd come to hate and… fuck he just hated it, and put it on. He attached the leash and handed it to Trevor with a grin. "Ever think you'd own the Minister?" he teased. Trevor didn't even try to fake a smile. He slipped the leash onto his wrist and looked down at his feet. Ianto's heart broke for him. "Trev… I'm sorry. I mean, that I didn't believe you."

"I didn't tell you anything for you to believe," Trevor replied, rubbing absently at the back of his neck in exactly the spot Brody had held the gun when he was relocated. Ianto finally understood where the gesture had come from. "Anyway, according to the papers you belong to John," Trevor continued, dropping the lead and moving away from him.

"Ianto?" Adrian whispered. Ianto turned toward his best friend and raised an eyebrow. Adrian held out the collar that had been his and avoided looking at Max. "You put it on, I'm not touching him… Or anyone."

Ianto took the collar and buckled it around Max's neck before handing the end of the leash to Adrian.

"Everyone ready?" John asked with mock cheer. Ianto rolled his eyes. This was going to be a long trip.


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: Chapter 10. I like this one. Taamar as usual is amazing. **

**Disclaimer: Don't own Torchwood. Still. **

**Warnings: Umm. Usual, there may be a mention or two of past non-con and dub-con.**

**Rating: MA**

**Trevor**

Trevor closed his eyes and tried to remember Jason's eyes. That's who he was focusing on tonight. He wanted desperately to push all memories of Brody out of his mind. To not feel so angry. He wanted to focus on the happy things in his life.

_Jason's eyes are a striking green, and they sparkle brightly. Jason will protect him from anything. Jason understands and respects limits. Jason's rush reminds him of the drop of a rollercoaster. Jason had been the first one he'd found again. _

_"I don't believe you really are straight, Mr. Bartender."_

A whimper pulled Trevor from his memories. He felt disoriented when he moved, and found his hands unbound. Oh yes, that's right, they'd been rescued. Three months ago. Another whimper, and Trevor opened his eyes.

"It's okay Trevor, just ignore it," Ianto whispered. Trevor looked at him and turned away. He ignored the small scream that came from the top bunk. Not that it bothered him at all that Brody was having a nightmare, he just wished he'd do it quietly. He groaned into his pillow.

Ianto's hand rested on Trevor's back. Trevor flinched away. He didn't want to be comforted, and he didn't want to be touched, especially not by Ianto. He was angry that Ianto hadn't ended Brody; angry that he still had to feel the man's rush when he was trying to forget him. At the moment, Trevor hated everything. He fluffed his pillow maybe a bit too hard and laid flat on his back, staring at the top of the bunk. He felt Ianto shift beside him, but he ignored it. He needed to focus on happy thoughts again.

_Jack's eyes are a brilliant blue. _

**TW—TW—TW **

Trevor stared into the blue water of the pool on the ship. He was sitting at a side table with Adrian and sipping a drink John had brought him. Bless John for bringing him a double, Trevor hoped the extra alcohol would help him forget things for a while.

"Trev… can I tell you a story?" Adrian asked. Trevor shrugged, keeping his eyes on the water. "When I was fourteen, my mother sold me to a man."

Narrowing his eyes and hoping Adrian wasn't going where Trevor thought he was going, he looked up. "Yeah, I know that."

"Yes, but… what you don't know, what only Ianto knows… well, he kinda knows, but not really…"

"Adrian… please, if you have something to tell me, just fucking tell me." Trevor rolled his eyes impatiently. He was too exhausted to listen to ramblings.

"I loved him. I… he used me, he forced me to be his whore. Not just calling me one; actually selling me. But… for the first time, I had food, water, and a warm place to sleep. I didn't have to worry about freezing to death. I let myself believe that he regretted selling my body to strangers, that he'd have kept me to himself if he could have, but it wasn't true. He was nice to me… except that he wasn't. You know, because he was forcing me to be a whore."

"Yeah, I know why he wasn't," Trevor sighed irritably, looking back at the water. He didn't like what Adrian was implying.

"When I went through the fifties for the second time… I planned out his death. Imagined it over and over in my head. Then I got there. I was ready, so ready, to end him, and then… I couldn't, because all I wanted to do was kneel at his feet. And you know the worst part? If Ianto hadn't been there… god, I would have."

"Is this the part where you tell me that I've become like you? Is Brody supposed to be like the pimp you loved to me? I don't love him… I don't want to kneel at his feet. I just want to forget him, and that's impossible when he's still here. And if I'm sad, it's because I'm mourning the man he should have been if he hadn't been warped along the way. A man who could have actually loved me, that I might have loved, but he's not that man, and I hate him. I don't love him." Trevor got up and downed the rest of his drink. "I'm going back to the cabin." He could only take so much of Adrian's pity. Of all of them, _all of them_, he should have been the one to understand, and he didn't.

"Trevor–" Adrian tried, getting up.

"Did you love Max?"

"Of course not! But Brody was nicer to you than Max was to me."

"Brody kidnapped and raped me, then shot me in the back of the head to punish Ianto before he relocated him. Then he fucked me for a hundred years, knowing that, and kidnapped me again. He allowed _you_ to be taken, and I had to watch it all, knowing I couldn't do a damn thing. All the while, he played out this sick fantasy that he and I were an actual couple, and I had to go along with it. In what universe is that 'nice'? I'm not trying to minimize what you went through, but Brody consumed my entire _life_!" Trevor paused a moment and struggled to catch his breath. Adrian reached for him, but he spun away from the man's grasp.

"Adrian, it's okay that you loved that man, no shame in that at all, but I'm not… that's not what's happening with me…"

Trevor practically ran from the room with tears streaking down his face. He hated feeling this way, so angry. Adrian had been the one who kept him sane, and all Trevor wanted was to rage at him for not understanding. It was so hard to control his temper. All his emotions, actually; at any moment he could burst into tears or laugh out loud or scream his fury at the universe.

He didn't stop until he reached the cabin and had closed the door behind him. He sank to the floor and cried into his hands.

"Shh…what's wrong love," Brody's voice came. Trevor looked up to see Brody sitting cuffed to the bed across from Max, who was staring at the ground. He could feel their rushes crowding him, like his very mind was being violated. "Come here, beautiful..." Brody's voice soothed.

The tenderness in Brody's voice sickened Trevor. It felt obscene, and poisoned every gesture of comfort he'd been offered since the rescue. He looked down at his feet, wondering if affection would ever feel clean again. He wished there were a place he could go to cry without having to feel Brody's presence. The ship had no privacy.

"Let me kiss your tears away."

"Shut _up_!" shouted Trevor.

"You don't speak to me that way!" Brody spat, shifting gears. Trevor felt his body tense. "Get over here now," he demanded.

The door opened with a swoosh, and Trevor felt himself being lifted off the ground by his arms. "Come on Trevor, leave the prisoners alone," Ianto said. Trevor tried to escape, but Ianto held on.

"Let me go, let me go!" cried Trevor while Brody shouted, "Get away from him!"

Ianto's hand shut the door to the cabin before he wrapped both arms around Trevor. "No. Shh, calm down you're okay, I just want to talk."

Trevor tried to relax, not wanting Ianto to see him falling apart. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I don't want to talk, don't want you touching me… I'm so angry. Why is he still alive?"

Ianto released Trevor and took a step back. "What you're going through is completely normal."

Trevor shook his head. "Stop trying to fucking psychoanalyze me! I'm not going through anything. I just don't understand why you're forcing me to sleep in the same room with him… to feel his rush. I just want to forget, but it's impossible when he's always there, watching me!"

Ianto narrowed his eyes. "Stay out of that cabin. That's an order."

"What, now you care? Seems like back in that hotel room you were more concerned about _him_!" He shoved Ianto aside as he stormed away.

**Ianto **

"Are you ready?" Ianto smiled at Adrian. They'd stopped at a communication center on the planet where they were currently docked. The sound of ringing filled the room, and Adrian nodded, biting his lip.

"Torchwood Cardiff, this is Tammy… Minister? Oh god, it's so good to see you, and… Adrian, oh dear, I've been so worried about you," Tammy exclaimed.

"It's nice to see you, Tammy." Adrian smiled.

"Can you fetch Jack and Jason for us?" Ianto asked. Tammy nodded and left the view of the monitor. Ianto turned to look at Trevor, who was sitting –no, kneeling– on the floor looking at his hands. Adrian said to just let him do things like that, told him it made Trevor feel safer to be in the position he'd become accustomed to with Brody. Adrian said it would take time, but slowly Trevor would begin to regain his sense of self; all they needed to do was support him… and possibly find a Child who knew some things about psychology to have him talk to.

"Mon amour," Jason's voice called out joyfully, and Ianto turned back toward the screen. He smiled softly at Jack, who was standing behind Jason, but kept quiet as Jason and Adrian exchanged _I love you_, _I've missed you_, and _I'm sorry_s. Truthfully, Ianto didn't know what they were sorry for, it wasn't their fault they'd been separated, but he didn't press to find out.

"What about Trevor?" Jack asked finally, interrupting Jason and Adrian's sweet-fest.

Ianto looked back at the boy still kneeling on the floor. He'd had to order him to come, and now it seemed he'd have to order him to talk to Jack and Jason. "He's right here," Ianto said, hoping that would be good enough for Trevor to get up and talk to his worried guardian. It wasn't. "Trevor, come see Jack."

Trevor looked up, his eyes red and swollen again. Poor guy was having a rough go of things, alternating between anger and despondency. Ianto gave him an encouraging smile as he stood to give Trevor the seat. Trevor eyed it suspiciously, then sat. "Hello," he choked out without looking at the screen.

"Hey, there you are," Jack greeted him affectionately. Trevor dropped his head into his hands and started to shake. Jack looked up at Ianto in alarm. "Is it something I said?"

Ianto shook his head and fought the urge to put a comforting hand on Trevor's back. "No, he's just having a hard time adjusting."

"Oh…Trev, I'm sorry buddy, wish I could hold you," Jack said. Trevor rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands and sobbed harder. "Hey, look at me."

Trevor looked up. "You're so strong and so brave; you'll get through this, we'll get you through this," Jack promised. Trevor sniffled softly, wiping a tear from his face.

"Can I please…?" Trevor didn't have to finish the sentence for Ianto to understand.

"John, would you take Trevor back to the ship, please?" Ianto asked. John was leaning against the wall. He nodded to Ianto and pushed off.

"Good to see you again Jack. Come on, Trev."

"Don't call me that, we aren't friends," snapped Trevor.

Trevor had been lashing out a lot lately, everyone was used to it. Ianto watched sadly as his former PA walked out of the room with John following behind. "Make sure my pet gets back to the ship before takeoff," John teased with a wink at Adrian.

"_My_ pet," Jack called as the door closed behind John.

Ianto raised his eyebrow. "Not a pet," he said, pointing to himself.

"Of course not," Jack smiled. "But we should keep the collar."

"For you to wear, yes. I was thinking the same thing." Ianto grinned. He'd missed the banter, and the idea of Jack in the collar made him, well–

Adrian cleared his throat, reminding Ianto that there was still much to discuss, and little time to do it. "Anyway, as you can see, John and I found Adrian and Trevor. Max, and Brody–"

"I knew it," interrupted Jason.

"Brody? But…"

Ianto exhaled slowly. He's been dreading this whole conversation. "The Brody that came through the Rift in front of you was Brody in his third life. He's been playing us from the start. I'm still not sure when the second Brody came through, he's not talking much."

"Why would he be talking at all?" Jason questioned. Ianto shifted.

"Well, I mean… I don't want to spend eternity looking over my shoulder wondering when Max or Brody will come back and… you know screw with us again, so…"

"You've taken them prisoner instead of executing them?" Jack guessed.

"Yes."

"So, we're going to do _what_ with them?"

"Put them in a cell… you know, forever," Ianto replied.

"And what happens when we leave Earth?" Jack asked.

Ianto bit his lip. "We can't leave, not until Trevor recovers."

An instant chorus of "Of course," "Duh," and, "You better believe it," was the response of his friends.

Ianto sat back in his seat and let out a breath. "Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if I'd just believed him over Brody."

"Well…" Jack began. Ianto looked up, stricken. "Nah, probably not, this isn't your fault, Yan. It's…"

"No. It is my fault. I… slept with Brody, I allowed him to fall in love with me. I knew he wasn't stable… I just… I was blind to needs of my charge, and that's why he turned to Max and allowed the man to corrupt him. Because I…"

"Ianto, stop making it about you," snapped Adrian.

"I'm not," Ianto defended.

"Yeah, you kinda are," Jason agreed with Adrian.

Ianto's eyes met Jack's and he realized his lover felt the same way. "Okay, fine. No more about me or it being my fault. We need to focus on Trevor."

For the rest of the hour the four men discussed their favorite strawberry blond. Adrian did most of the talking, explaining what he and Trevor had been through and how he'd noticed the shift in Trevor's attitude after the night Max had tried to whip the Welshman. He said that was when Trevor had become the perfect captive. Well, maybe not perfect, he'd had some slip ups, but nothing that got him noticed by Max again. When the hour was almost up, Adrian dropped a bombshell by explaining that he'd loved the man that had forced him into prostitution all those years ago.

Ianto had known that Adrian loved the man, but not the full extent of it, and he hadn't realized that before Adrian had died his first death he'd had a chance to escape and hadn't taken because he didn't want to leave the man. Or that the reason Adrian had cried every night for the first few months after his relocation was that he'd missed the bastard. He ended his story by admitting that he hadn't let go of his feelings for the man, whose name Ianto finally learned was Etienne, until he'd met Jason and felt true love.

**John **

"Can I just have a minute… alone with-" Trevor began.

"No." John cut him off.

Trevor looked down at his feet muttering something John couldn't hear. John found himself wishing he'd stayed on the ship with Mia.

"What would you say?" John asked. He thought about Jack's brother Grey and, should ever happen to see the bastard again, what he would say. Nothing pleasant, he was sure.

"It's not really any of your business, is it?" Trevor snapped. John had about had it with the boy's attitude. Intellectually, he knew than man was older than he, but Trevor _looked_ so damn young.

John stopped walking and grabbed Trevor's arm. Trevor tried to pull away but John held tight and led him into a small area in between a few shops. He smiled at a woman who was giving the pair an evil eye before telling her to bugger off and pressing Trevor up against a wall. "You want to know what I think."

"No!" Trevor growled, trying to pry John's hand off him.

"I think you need to focus all those irrational emotions into something else."

"Like what? Painting?" Trevor sneered.

"If you'd like," John laughed, releasing Trevor's arm and stepping back, only to have Trevor grab him and force him into the other wall before crashing their lips together in a brutal kiss. John submitted to it and whined when it ended. "Though that's a better choice, if you ask me."

"I'm... I don't know why I did that…"

"Control," said John with a shrug. "I liked it, don't worry." He reached out his hand to touch Trevor's cheek only to have the man pull away.

"Let's get back to the ship."

"Are you sure? We could go get a drink or rent a room?" John replied, only half teasing.

"I guess… umm, a drink could be nice."

John held out his hand and, surprisingly, Trevor took it.

TW—TW—TW

"So, was the story about your relocation true? Did Ianto really do it?" Trevor asked. He and John were sitting beside each other at a bar drinking vodka because the planet didn't have scotch. Not a place John wanted to be long.

"Yeah. It's a rather long story." John looked down at his drink as he spoke and twisted the glas sin his hands. He wasn't proud of himself for what he'd done, and he wasn't sure he wanted to discuss his cowardice with Trevor.

Trevor shoved John shoulder. "Well? We have a bit of time, don't we?"

"I caused the bombs in Cardiff in 2008 because a man attached a bomb to my arm and I was too scared to end my first life to go against his demands. So I not only let others die, but got Jack buried under Cardiff for two thousand years, and also got his friends killed. Not exactly his friends, I suppose; Ianto had cloned them to save them, so it wasn't quite as bad, but I didn't know that at the time. Anyway…" he trailed off.

"That wasn't a very long story," Trevor replied dryly.

John shrugged and took a sip of his drink.

"I'm assuming the man was Gray? Jack's brother?"

"Yep. He… I found him, I thought that I was rescuing him. I thought he liked me… I deserved it though, everything he did. You didn't."

"What, what Gray did? Or Ianto relocating you?"

"Both, really. Ianto did what he had to do. I'm over it. "

"He wouldn't relocate Brody." Trevor knocked back his drink, and John got the feeling he was gathering courage. "Twice Brody held me captive. After everything that man did to me, Ianto risked me to save him. How can I trust him ever again? How can I look at him, knowing he loved my murderer more than me?" he drew a shuddering breath. John watched him in silence, sensing that there was more.

"Brody watches me, you know. I've had to share a room with him. I don't want to want to be near him, can't stand feeling his rush. I hate him. He… he did awful things to me, and he stood by and allowed Max to… beat Adrian. I just want to kill him; if you'll just give me five minutes I could do it. Five minutes, just turn your back. That's all it would take. I'm sorry, I know you can't, I'm just so fucking angry," Trevor was openly crying now, and John felt a bit uneasy. He really didn't like crying people.

"Hey, shh… umm, I mean, Adrian says it's normal. It happens to a lot of people who go through things like this. You just have to focus those emotions somewhere else… as I said earlier."

"I... thanks?" Trevor sniffed rubbing his eyes.

John stood up and downed the rest of his drink. "Come on. Let's go back to the ship. They have better drinks."

**TW—TW—TW **

"You stand out here and I'll get the towels, then we'll see what kinda gorgeous people we can find in the hot tub," John teased as he and Trevor walked back to the cabin. He glanced over his shoulder to see that Trevor had stopped dead.

"I can't feel Max."

John closed his eyes and focused a moment. He could feel Brody, but not Max. He quickly drew his gun and opened the door. Max was nowhere to be found, and Brody sat unrestrained on the bottom bunk. "Fuck." He hauled Brody off the bunk and shoved him to his knees on the floor "Where the fuck is he?"

"Fuck you!"

John hit the bastard with the butt of his gun, effectively knocking him out. Of course, John knew it wouldn't last long, so he quickly reattached the man's restraints and latched him back to the bed.

"Did you kill him?" Trevor said, kneeling down beside Brody and wiping the blood off his head.

Brody was already coming to. "I stayed for you,' he whispered to Trevor, and John felt the urge to knock him out again.

**Adrian**

"First rule: If we leave this cabin we do so together. No exceptions… especially you," Ianto said, pointing a finger at Adrian. Adrian stuck his tongue out and climbed up onto one of the top bunks. He felt distinctly odd.

"Oh come on Minister, I don't want to be stuck in this cabin with all of you… I'm a free spirit. I need to be able to go where I please." Mia pouted.

"Yes, and when you want to go where you please, take John along," Ianto ordered. Mia made a face and climbed up onto the bunk with Adrian. Adrian grinned happily at her.

"He had to have had some sort of help. Someone on the ship that recognized them," John mused.

"No… I mean, not unless they were normal humans. I scanned the ship when we came aboard and after we took off. If there were other Children I'd have felt them. Jason and I tried out my range once; two miles if I really concentrate," Adrian was only barely paying attention to the conversation; he was eating some sort of crunchy chip covered in artificial cheese, and his fingers were intriguingly orange. Alien Cheetos. Yum.

"So if Max were still on the ship you'd be able to tell?" John said. Adrian nodded. He didn't know why, but he was sorta glad Max was gone. It was a relief not to feel his filthy rush, like a weight had been lifted. No time to dwell, though; Mia was trying to steal his alien Cheetos.

"Brody, you still not wanting to tell us anything?" Ianto asked. Adrian looked across at the other bunk where they'd put Brody. The man was sitting with his back turned, pretending not to hear Ianto.

Adrian pushed Mia's hand away from his food before lying back in the bed and putting another crisp in his mouth. "Maybe he'll leave us alone now?"

"Are you high?" Mia laughed.

"What? Why, no… I'm not…" Adrian giggled.

"He is, we ate lunch at this place and he ate far too many brownies," Ianto smirked, running his fingers through his hair.

"The lady wanted to know why I could still stand." Adrian grinned down at John. "You're pretty, did you know? Great hands, and lips that–"

"Adrian, give me the crisps and go to sleep," interrupted Ianto. Adrian stuck out his bottom lip, but handed Ianto the bag of alien Cheetos anyway.


End file.
